《Feral: The Story of a Half Orc》 Chapter 1 They attacked me in an alley on my way home. It was my fault. I took a new route, trying to hurry, and ended up alone and off the public streets. A meaty fist slammed into my face before I could do anything to stop it. I almost sighed at the feel of it, long used to such abuse. While the blow was weak, it did force my head to turn and look over at the window next to me. It was dusty, smudged with finger markings. But I could still see my face, my dark black eyes blinking as my green skin twisted and my lower tusks flared in irritation. I cracked my neck, then turned to my attackers. The alley we stood in was filthy, the tall buildings on either side of me giving it shade, and the smell making it hard to stand in. My sense of smell was strong, but I decided it was worth the brief smell of rotting food and human refuse dumped on the cobblestone if I could simply get home sooner. I was regretting that now. Three men barred my path. The smell of alcohol was thick around them, the cheap stuff they sold in local taverns that was just short of drinking piss. The one in the middle had thrown the punch. He was fat, but his arms were well-muscled. It was most likely my heritage that allowed me to take his punch so well. The left one was skinny, and had a gold tooth that hung between dirty lips. The right one was a dwarf, short and thickly muscled, a large beard with bits of food in it hanging from his face. ¡°Gentlemen,¡± I said slowly, making sure my dagger was in its sheath at my hip. I tried to keep calm, but my voice came out as more of a growl than the low rumble I usually tried for. ¡°What can I do for you?¡± ¡°Ohhh, classy ain¡¯t ya!¡± the skinny one leered. ¡°¡®Gentlemen¡¯, he says!¡± The fat one barked out a laugh. ¡°Didn¡¯t know animals had manners!¡± ¡°Animals don¡¯t,¡± the dwarf¡¯s voice had a low, dangerous tone to it. ¡°Monsters can fake it.¡± I looked over at him. He wasn¡¯t drunk. He was angry. He was staring at me as though I¡¯d killed his family. ¡°Ah, right!¡± the fat one laughed, looking over at his dwarf friend. ¡°You lived in Banfarse didn¡¯t you!?¡± Oh. Well. That explained the dwarf¡¯s anger. Banfarse had been a small city on the outskirts of the civilized nations. It had been raided. Twenty thousand men, women, and children, killed, raped, or enslaved. A tragedy that reverberated to this day. All because of Orcs, the killers of thousands, the constant enemy of all Turab, the demon worshippers, and the long running holders of the title ¡®Worst Race of People in Existence¡¯. Which made me, as a Half-Orc, an honorary holder of the title. ¡°I did,¡± the dwarf reached behind himself and took out a blade. The dagger was as long as my forearm, with a nasty serrated edge. ¡°How about it, demon spawn?¡± The hate in his eyes was tinged with the familiar edge of an old pain. ¡°Did your people feel any remorse as they killed and raped my family?¡± Of course, it was at this point I decided to open my big mouth. ¡°What is the nearest Dwarven King doing right now?¡± All three stared at me uncomprehendingly for a moment. ¡°¡­ what?¡± said the skinny one dumbly. ¡°Well if we¡¯re going assume we have insight into the minds of random members of our species we have never met, I¡¯d like to sate my curiosity as well,¡± I wiped my mouth. ¡°I was a child when Banfarse was attacked. I have never even met an orc before. There is literally no possible way I could know anything about the attack.¡± If I¡¯d been smart, I would have apologized. Maybe curled into a ball and let them beat me for a bit. I could take it. Instead, from the way their eyes narrowed, they¡¯d decided to escalate from ¡®beat severely¡¯, to ¡®murder immediately¡¯. This was confirmed once the skinny one leaped forward to attack me. He screamed, his bony fist impacting on my chest as his other hand went for a dagger. I took the blow with a grunt, then reacted with my own punch. It was a clumsy blow. I had no training as a fighter, and tended to simply lash out. But that¡¯s the thing about Half-Orcs. I have a lot of muscle to back up my unskilled blows. The loud smack of flesh on flesh when I hit his chest was followed by the skinny man flying back down the alley. He didn¡¯t make a sound, but the way his eyes widened as he took off like a cannon made it clear he was in pain. The dwarf surprised me when he barely reacted to the sudden flight of his ally. He dodged around his friend, stepping forward. That was when I got nervous. The way he held his blade, spinning it around, his steps moving into obviously well-practiced motions, all spoke of training. This was confirmed when he stepped past my second punch and slashed at my stomach. My shirt parted easily, and my tough skin only gave a bit more resistance. If I hadn¡¯t instinctively stepped back, I probably would have been disemboweled, instead of feeling the white heat following the slash before blood came out of the wound. The dwarf smirked as he stepped away from another of my blows. I growled, anger beginning to come forth. I didn¡¯t lose control, but I could feel that sweet rage burning within me at his smirk. If there is anything I hate more than being prosecuted, it¡¯s when someone is becoming an absolute smug bastard. I pulled out my dagger, spinning around to point at the dwarf. The fat man had run over to help, only to come to a stop at the sight of the dagger in my hand. He licked his lips nervously. The dwarf¡¯s eyes narrowed into little slits. ¡°I just want to go home,¡± My chest rumbled as I spoke. Both men flinched at the way anger turned the sound of my voice into something horrific. Then the dwarf shook his head. ¡°My wife is dead because of you,¡± The pain in his voice was enough to make me feel for him. Then he glared. ¡°I¡¯m going to kill you Orc. You and all your kind.¡± ¡°Heehee!¡± said the fat man stupidly. I ignored him, because the dwarf was coming at me again, his beard flying. Panicking, I barely blocked his dagger with my own. Because of his height, it was hard to fight him. I had to stoop slightly, and my lack of training made that harder. Still, my dagger met his. My dagger was a simpe thing. A straight-edged blade with only a small symbol engraved near the hilt. I¡¯d made the dagger myself, as an experiment. So when lightning flowed from my blade to enter the dwarf¡¯s, I was ready for it. The bearded man yelped, hand spasming at the electricity hitting his skin. There was a slight backlash for me, and I gritted my tusks at the shocking sensation. But since I was ready, I was able to fight through the agony and kick out at the dwarf. My foot sank into his barrel chest, pushing back the heavy man a step. The fat man, who¡¯d been circling around us, leaped to try and punch me in the face. I took the blow, and stabbed my dagger into his arm, into the fleshy part above his wrist. ¡°AIEEE!¡± He screamed at the burst of electricity that came with the attack, his voice keening horribly in my ear. I reflexively smacked him in the face, putting a little too much strength into the blow and smashing his nose into mush. He screamed again, this time with blood pouring into his mouth from the pile of flesh that had been his nose. His double chins turned crimson. The dwarf chose then to stab me in the thigh. ¡°Hn,¡± I mumbled at the sensation of steel once again parting flesh. My skin and muscle, being extremely tough, were able to take the blow well, but it shook me enough that the dwarf was able to stab me again in the stomach, right the wound he¡¯d already made. ¡°WAAAGH!¡± The roar that came out of me then was nothing like the sound a sentient being can make. My anger came out in a sudden blaze, and nothing could stop it. I ripped my dagger out of the fat man and grabbed the dwarf by the beard with my other hand. The dwarf, who had just been ready to pull his dagger out of my stomach, had enough time to squawk before I threw him to the ground. I stabbed at him with my dagger, but he kicked it out of my hands and rolled to his feet. ¡°WAAAAUUGH!!!¡± I didn¡¯t think. I just lashed out, punching the dwarf in the face. He grunted, his rock hard skull weathering the blow. He punched me in the stomach, right next to where his dagger was still sticking into me. Pain and anger, like acid carving its way through my veins, took over me. I grabbed his head in both hands. We both roared in each other¡¯s faces. I knew how I must have looked then. Black eyes turning into a golden amber. Small tusks fully revealed in my mouth as I snarled like an animal. I pushed him back, ignoring the feel of iron hard fist slamming into my bloody stomach as red liquid poured onto the dirt. He released a loud ¡®oomph¡¯ when I pushed him into the building behind him. Still holding him in my hands, I began to smash the dwarfs head against the brick wall behind him. He roared, in pain, anger, and fear. I roared back. Blood began to smear the wall behind him. I felt his skull under my hands, and knew it would crack soon. The anger inside me burned. And then a slim pair of arms came around to wrap around my chest. Cool hands pressed against my skin, like a balm for my anger. They pressed against me, pulling me back slightly, but gently. ¡°Now, Char,¡± a voice whispered in my ear, like silk against my skin. ¡°As hot and bothered seeing you all blood rage gets me, you really shouldn¡¯t kill the idiot.¡± I stared at the dwarf, not looking back at the person behind me. His massive head was still in my hands. Blood soaked his hair. He looked up at me, glassy eyed. The anger left, replaced by a sickening pain. I¡¯d lost control again. And someone had almost died for it. I let go of the dwarf, letting him fall. ¡°There you are,¡± the hands on my chest moved, pressing to turn me. Even on my worst day, the hands wouldn¡¯t have been able to force me to move. There was no ¡®real¡¯ strength to them. Still, I let myself get turned around. The woman who stood there when I turned was stunning. Red hair flowed down her shoulders like fire pouring across soft silk. Her green eyes glittered like jade pools. Her face had an odd combination of sensuality, maturity, and strength. While she was well-formed, her body¡¯s incredible curves were clearly built for more savory activities than the one I¡¯d just engaged in. She was shorter than me, but then I tended to tower over most people. She was wearing a very short slip that revealed the curve of her breasts and the long inches of her smooth legs and arms. ¡°Jennifer,¡± I said softly. I did my best anyways, as the recent fight had still turned my voice into something demonic. She shuddered at the sound of voice, biting her lip as she eyed me. ¡°This isn¡¯t your section of the city.¡± ¡°The other girls said they saw you being followed,¡± she looked over her shoulder. ¡°Ladies.¡± From the shadows, a veritable army of women came forth. Humans like Jennifer, slim and beautiful elves, curvy dwarves, and short halflings. Whores. The Whores of Allgowlden City. Well, working girls, as Jennifer called them. She said that the word whore had too many negatives to it. Jennifer was the madam of Allgowlden City, a brothel famed all over. She took care of her girls, protecting them from anyone who would harm them. I could see it in the way they acted around her. As the women gathered around us, they gave Jennifer respectful nods and awed smiles she got. Truly, among her girls, Jennifer was mother, teacher, employer, and friend. She¡¯d been kind to me as a child, and I sometimes thought of her as the closest thing to a mother that I had. She was also, as I was reminded when she panned her eyes over to the men I had beaten, someone who had long since gained a reputation for ruthlessness that had become legendary. She smiled, slowly, at the skinny one. The man was rising to his feet, legs and arms quaking. He spat blood from his mouth, pathetically whimpering. He looked up, eyes widening at the sight of fourteen woman dressed in evening wear surrounding Jennifer and I in a circle. ¡°I must admit however, that you aren¡¯t the only reason I came, Char,¡± she walked forward, red heels clicking on the cobblestones. Rather than looking out of place in the grimy alley, she somehow gave the place a beauty that was somehow dangerous. Like silk sliding across a sharp blade, she walked towards the skinny man. Her girls stepped away from me to join her. I watched, not moving my body. There was a ceremony to the movement of the girls. Slowly, one by one, each smiled. They mirrored their madam in every motion. The skinny man stared at the group of women stalking towards him, beautiful smiles gazing upon. ¡°You see, Char,¡± Jennifer came to a stop, kneeling down to look the skinny man in the eye. ¡°This young man is new to the city. Like many sailors, he decided to take some time in the most well-known brothel in town,¡± she chuckled, eyes sparkling. ¡°I cannot blame him. I make a living off the natural urges of all species. To not indulge such things from time to time is to be inhuman,¡± she reached out a gentle hand to stroke the man¡¯s chin, uncaring of the blood pouring from his nose and mouth. ¡°But then, he did something,¡± her fingers traced the contours of his jaw. He shuddered, eyes bright with some unknown emotion. ¡°One of my girls apparently didn¡¯t satisfy him as he wished. She was a new girl, just a bright babe who wanted to save up money to protect her family.¡± Her fingers suddenly gripped the skinny man¡¯s jaw. He yelped, eyes widening. Still smiling, her voice like air on the wind, she continued. ¡°He beat her. Took her roughly, angrily. That poor girl can¡¯t even speak now. I promised I would protect her. It is a promise I give to all my girls.¡± A chill rose in the air. Jennifer stopped smiling. ¡°I do not break promises. And I do not let anyone hurt my family,¡± she leaned forward, whispering into his ear as tears fell down his cheeks, terror in his eyes. The chill increased to the point that even my tough skin began to feel uncomfortable, yet none of the scantily-clad women so much as shuddered. They simply watched and smiled. That eerie, loving, uncaring smile. ¡°And now, you¡¯ve come after Char. One of my girls, and now one of my boys. That is twice you tried to hurt what is mine,¡± the blade, my blade, sliced deeply into his throat. He screamed. Electricity came out of the blade, slamming deep into his body. I¡¯d long since studied what happens when a body is hit directly by electricity. In preparation for that, my dagger had been designed for only brief shocks. It would hurt, as I¡¯d proven, but all it did was send jolts into people for a few seconds.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. His screams of agony as the electricity poured into him was the first indication something was wrong. The second was the lightning that began to surround Jennifer and her victim. Soon, bright arcs of power lit the alley like a thousand candles, turning into an orb of power. I shaded my eyes from the light with my arm, trying to watch. The white wall of power surrounded the two of them, obscuring them from view. Thunder echoed in the small space. The man¡¯s screams¡­ I had never heard anything like it. So full of fear, pain, and sadness. They echoed, over and over. Until finally, they petered out. In a burst of light, the electricity faded. I lowered my arm, staring at Jennifer. The man¡¯s body was charred meat now, his clothes ash. The dagger at his waist had melted into his hipbones. His eyes had popped from the lightning pumping through him, leaving his blackened face to stare eternally with empty sockets. Jennifer rose to her feet. My dagger was gone. ¡°Apologies, Char. Your dagger seems to have disappeared,¡± she turned to smile. ¡°It was very well made. I¡¯ll have to recommend your shop for such things.¡± I kept my face still. My dagger, though magical, wasn¡¯t capable of holding that much energy. However the horror I¡¯d just seen occurred, only Jennifer could be responsible for it. ¡°It is no problem,¡± I looked over at the dwarf and the fat man. ¡°And them?¡± ¡°Hmm,¡± she stepped forward, leaving the smoking carcass of the skinny man behind her. Her girls followed her with their eyes, unmoving as she passed them to come up to me. ¡°Well, you did a good job beating them. Still, if you would prefer for me to finish them as well¡­¡± ¡°No thank you,¡± I held back a wince as pain from the blade impaled within me filled my body. ¡°You¡¯re hurt,¡± Jennifer nodded to one of her girls, an elf girl. ¡°Heal him, please. It wouldn¡¯t do for me to come all this way and simply let him die.¡± ¡°Yes, miss,¡± the elf girl, a tall young woman with beautiful black hair, stepped towards me. I stood still as she took the dagger by the handle with her right hand, placing her left hand against my stomach. She pulled the dagger out slowly. As she did, her left hand began to glow, green and soothing. With every inch that came out, I could feel my flesh slowly knit together. I growled, trying to control myself. She flinched at the noise, but continued working, slim features screwed up in concentration. At last, the final bit of the dagger was out. I watched the hole it had left slowly melt away. Not even a scar was left. My thigh, the stab wound, the slash mark, my bruised knuckles, it was all gone. The elf girl wasn¡¯t even winded. Her bright blue eyes stared at me icily, long pointed ears twitching as she stood there with all the imperiousness of a queen, hands clasped in front of her. ¡°Well done, Myrandra,¡± Jennifer stepped toward me. I didn¡¯t flinch, but she must have seen something. She frowned sadly. ¡°Still scared of me, Char?¡± I almost laughed. Here I was, a massive half-orc, terrified of a brothel¡¯s madam. But then, I¡¯d just seen her vaporize a man using the magic I¡¯d wanted for self-defense. She had more power in her pinkie than I did my whole body. She was a killer, a blackmailer, and someone more terrifying than the demons of the netherealm. She was still the closest thing I had to a mother. But yes. She scared me. After this¡­ and after all that I had seen, knowing the full truth of her? I would be insane not to be scared of this woman. Jennifer noticed too. She sighed sadly. ¡°Very well. I suppose I¡¯ll leave you for now. Just know I¡¯m here whenever you need me,¡± she turned around. ¡°We¡¯ll call the watch. I assume Arthur will want you home soon. Tell him the girls miss him.¡± I stared at her back. I wanted to reach for her. Damn it, I cared for her. I wanted her to know that, that in this city that hated me so much she was one of the people I cared for with all my heart. But I couldn¡¯t. Not after seeing, once more, the monster hidden beneath her kindness. Feeling like the worst hypocrite in the world, I turned and walked away. ------ As I walked home, I kept a careful watch on my surroundings. I must have gotten complacent. After years of living in Jarvin, a city known for its hatred of hybrids, halflings, orcs, and combinations thereof, the few times I managed to get caught were always due to me simply not paying attention. It was understandable. Today was supposed to be the same as any other. I¡¯d only gone to the docks after all. It was a great place to pick up various regents and tools after all. Since Jarvin¡¯s harbor sat right along a river and the ocean routes to the Eastern Continents, one could pick up almost anything from the shops there. I¡¯d done enough work there that, even with my orc blood, a few of the shopkeeps gave me fair price. No discounts, but they wouldn¡¯t cheat me. Still, I should have known better. All of Turab hated orcs. There are many species in the world. Humans, elves, dwarves, halflings, dragons, bears, cougars, manticores, even spirits and demons count as their own species. By far one of the most hated is orcs. A hatred that is apparently mutual. Living south in the Scown Deserts that border the continent, orcs are seen as monsters for good reason. They have been at seemingly endless war with the other races for centuries, killing, raping, and enslaving thousands. The other races have warred from time to time, for one reason or another. But there has been no race with as prevalent a hatred for the other species of Turab as the orcs. There have been exceptions however, that may be the sign of a deeper reason for the hatred of the orcs. My father was a simple farmer. One day, an orc woman found him at his farmstead. And rather than killing him and devouring the flesh, which I¡¯ve been told many times is how such things end, she asked to live with him. My father must not have heard how such things ended, because he agreed (I have heard from a friend of my father that my mother was apparently very beautiful, which may give a shallower reason for why he agreed). Whatever the case, they fell in love. I was born. And then someone who wasn¡¯t a friend found out. If orcs are hated, then hybrids are seen as strange. But a half-human, half-orc child? Akin to summoning a demon and slaughtering a city. They gathered a mob, and attacked the farmstead. My father gave me to his friend to take away. Then he gave my mother a sword, and picked up a hammer. My father killed three men. My mother killed ten. My father¡¯s friend liked to speak of my mother¡¯s laughter as she killed men with ease, roaring with pride in her husband. Small comfort. I still had no parents. My father¡¯s friend took me to Jarvin. The city may have a hatred for orcs, but the magistrate was the fairest man I¡¯d ever heard of. At the very least, he had obsession with following the letter of the law, no matter what race the man it judged. As long as I kept my head down, never caused trouble, I¡¯d be safe. So I¡¯d lived in Jarvin, raised by my father¡¯s friend. My story isn¡¯t that bad. There are others with worse lives. I¡¯ve been lucky. I have food, an education, and a place to sleep. In the end, I¡¯d long since decided that no matter how hated I was, I would continue my life as I saw fit. I would follow the law, defend myself as needed, and live my life to the fullest. My race does not define me as my actions do. I¡¯d chosen to be the man I wanted to be, to live my live as best I could. I messed up sometimes. And life was hard for a half-orc no matter how optimistic I was. But I tried. And that made my life worth living. ------ Sticking to the shadows was easy. I could see in the dark better than a human, and even with my large size, I¡¯d gotten good at avoiding attention when I really tried. I avoided the marketplaces, took to the rooftops of one of Jarvin¡¯s many schools to cut across a path, taking the time to gaze at the massive tower that stood in the distance as I went. Paranoid of me, but I wasn¡¯t willing to risk getting in another fight. I¡¯d take the exercise in a trade for less trouble. Soon enough, I hopped off a low building to walk towards my house. As I stepped into my home, I felt as though closing the door also meant shutting away the hateful world beyond. I try not to melodramatic about such things. My life is far better than most like me would hope for. I could have been working in prison mines, or sliced up into an experiment. Instead I was able to sleep in a comfortable bed, and learn things most wouldn¡¯t dream of. Still, as I slowly closed the wooden door of my home behind me, I sighed in relief. Home was small, no mansion. But compared to some places, this was a palace. The door opened to show the dining room, with a table and three chairs made of wood and a small fireplace where we cooked our food and warmed ourselves when necessary. A small shelf with cooking utensil, wooden bowls, and a small figurine of a bird I¡¯d made in one of my first projects. A set of steps led up to the two small rooms where I and my master slept, and a hallway to the right of the stairs led to the back of the house, where most of the space was. ¡°Char,¡± said a gruff voice from the back. ¡°That you?¡± ¡°Yes, one second,¡± I grabbed a cup and poured out a small smidge of water from a nearby barrel. The barrel was actually two, one stacked on another. Both were watertight. The top barrel was half-full of a layer of sand, ground charcoal, pebbles, then sand and charcoal again, with a thick cloth to allow water to drip through. I¡¯d created it to make clean water, based on something I¡¯d read, and I was rewarded for my efforts with a nice clear cup. Having had my fill, I went into the back room. A blast of heat hit me as I passed the stairs. The actual backroom constantly had the smell of burning wood, chemicals, and raw metal. I breathed deeply, taking comfort in the smells. I followed up by taking a thick cloth from a rack next to the door and tying it around my neck. As comforting as the scents were, too much smoke inhalation could kill even a being with my constitution. The actual workroom was the biggest room in the house. The top was made of tough timber, and had several large openings to let out smoke, as well letting the sunlight come into the room. The walls were made of thick stone, and the floor was stone as well. Four forges were placed around the room, leaving much of the space open for one to move around in. There were also little chambers for heat-treating the metals next to some of the forges, as well as barrels of oil and water for quenching. Two anvils, one massive and one a bit smaller, were at either end of the room. It should be noted that everything was clean. The floors were swept, the barrels of oil and water were closed, and the tools put away nicely on racks. An unclean shop, especially one like ours, could prove fatal. Another door across from me lead to another room, the place that had become my special section of the shop, set aside for my experiments. Two men left that room. The first to leave it was a thin human wearing an apron. He was short man, with a long-sleeved shirt and a thick leather apron on to protect him. He was also clearly annoyed, his brown eyes blazing as his face twitched, a large beard shuffling with each furious grind of teeth. ¡°Um, Art?¡± he looked up at me when I spoke, then looked at the second man who entered. I looked as well. The second man was tall, almost as tall as me, and built like dancer, with slim muscles revealed by his practical shirt and comfortable trousers that suggested quickness and balance. His bright blue eyes were set in a face that was uncomfortably good looking for a man. Of course, as his long ears that sharpened into points suggested, he was an elf, and I had yet to meet an elf that was not the pinnacle of beauty. ¡°Hasha,¡± I looked between the two men. ¡°I didn¡¯t realize you were going to be here so early.¡± ¡°Tell the damn elf,¡± Art said with a wide-eyed anger. ¡°That he needs to mind his own business on how I run my shop!¡± Hasha snorted. ¡°I¡¯m simply saying that if you would follow my system¡ª¡± ¡°To hell with your system!¡± Art declared. ¡°Damn it all, I let Char build his damn contraptions, and they even work! I admitted I like them! Stop changing everything else!¡± I snorted, offended. My ¡®contraptions¡¯ were pretty damn good if I could say so myself. ¡°Art,¡± said the taller man. Though frustrated, Hasha seemed to be keep calm. ¡°I am simply saying that, with a better flow to the shop, you will increase the efficiency of your projects.¡± I sighed, moving around the pair. ------ They would often fight like that. While both seemed to like each other well enough, they tended to butt heads on matters dealing with the shop. Art, as the owner, liked things to be as they were, as change might introduce an unknown element to the shop. Hasha, as a wizard, was always up-to-date on the newest ways of doing things, and always saw it as his role to bring Art to the present in all his ways. They made an odd pair, the skinny blacksmith and the elf wizard. It was my fault that they had even met at all. Arthur Maroon was the friend of my fathers that had saved me. Arthur brought me to Jarvin afterwards, and raised me. While he didn¡¯t know much about kids, especially infant half-orcs, he¡¯d put his full effort into it. I¡¯ll always love him for that. As I grew up, he started teaching me everything he knew about blacksmithing. The art of shaping metal had become by first real lessons in the world, and one I treasured until now. My fondest memories took place in the blacksmithing shop, rather than the small home we lived in. He was a good man, if a bit rude at times. It was partially thanks to him that I¡¯d become the man I was. He¡¯d introduced me to Jennifer, and allowed Hasha into the house when the wizard came calling. Called ¡®those of the wise¡¯, wizards were the premier researchers of the natural and unnatural world. They studied the physical and spiritual magic¡¯s of the world. In truth, ¡®wizard¡¯ was a catch all term. A man who used magic to heal others might call himself a priest, while a woman with a skill for speaking with nature spirits might call herself a druid. But in the end, as long as they studied the world as part of their profession, they were wizards. And Jarvin had a tower for them. Used as a school and training ground, the Jarvin Tower¡¯s stated mandate was to ¡®teach, guide, and protect the world¡¯. It was the place I most wanted to visit in fact. It could be seen from any point in the city. The magic of the wizard¡¯s experiments had been used to make the tower as tall and large as possible, making it one of the most famed buildings in the world. There were legends that any magic used there never failed to work, thanks to the enchantments on the building. Combined with its position near the cities religious and government center, the Jarvin Tower was one of the most well visited places in the land. Except when you¡¯re a half-orc. If you are, you simply admire it in the distance, then shrug and go back to work. Hasha didn¡¯t work in the tower. He¡¯d gotten special dispensation to work on his experiments on his own time. It was part of how he met me. Even for a wizard, Hasha Nin was¡­ odd. He¡¯d come by one day to see me. Apparently he¡¯d heard rumors of a half-orc child being raised in a blacksmiths house, and had come by from his laboratory a few blocks from the Jarvin Tower to come by. He¡¯d been doing a paper on hybrids at the time, and I was the first orc one he¡¯d ever had the chance to visit. He paid Arthur a great deal of money, and promised not to hurt me. The tests he¡¯d given me started with tests of my physical abilities, like how strong I was. Even as a ten year old child, I¡¯d been capable of lifting fifty kilograms, something that Hasha had said was normal for orcs. Then he went to my mental abilities. He taught me how to read, write, and do mathematics. He was surprised when I devoured the lessons. I don¡¯t think he understood what they meant to me. As a child, I was feared by everyone but Arthur and Jennifer. People saw my green skin and saw me as a future killer. I don¡¯t hate them for their ignorance anymore, but it hurt deeply as a child. I tried to be nice and polite, being as calm as I could just to keep people from becoming enraged at my presence, even as resentment filled me. Then came Hasha. He seemed truly interested in me, in what I could do. He wasn¡¯t hateful, and he seemed to see my race as something to be celebrated, to be proud of. He taught me to stop hating myself. And so I learned all he could teach me, until one day he started teaching me magic. And at some point, he just never stopped teaching me. I wasn¡¯t his apprentice, and he wasn¡¯t my master, not officially. Jarvin Tower¡¯s council wouldn¡¯t have allowed it. But I sometimes thought of him that way, and I like to think he felt the same way. ------ ¡°What is it now?¡± I said as I began putting my own apron on. ¡°You need to move this forge,¡± said Hasha. He pointed at the specific one, a large rectangular block of metal and stone with openings to put in coal and metal. ¡°It¡¯s right in the middle of the shop. If you move it closer to the exit, it will facilitate a sense of urgency. The closer to the door, the more you feel the need to get the next project out the door.¡± ¡°Damnit elf, is this your mind mumbo jumbo?¡± Art moved over pile of coal in the corner and started shoveling it around. It seemed like he was just keeping busy for now. ¡°It is the study of the way the mind works, and it is a very fascinating field!¡± Hasha declared. ¡°Char, you¡¯ll like this, it¡¯s¡ª¡± Art picked up a dagger off a shelf, still keeping busy, and looked it over. Seeing him do that reminded me of my own dagger. ¡°Uh, Hasha?¡± I asked, cutting him off. He looked me full in the face. ¡°The uh, the rune thurisaz, when combined with fire, it¡¯s only supposed create a brief amount of electricity, right?¡± The rune thurisaz, sometime written, turisaz, was the rune for a directed force of destruction. It was designed like the letter P. Or the letter P was designed to look like it I suppose. ? ¡°Hm?¡± Hasha rubbed the spot between his eyes with two fingers, a habit he indulged at times. ¡°Well, yes. We put it on that dagger of yours remember? It was only meant for brief shocks however, and we never combined it with more power runes.¡± ¡°Not enough to turn a man into charred meat then?¡± Hasha and Art stared at me. I sighed, looking down at my hands. The light traced my dark green skin. ¡°Char? What happened?¡± Hasha asked worriedly. ¡°¡­Three men followed me on my way home,¡± I said softly. ¡°One had family in Banfarse, so they wanted revenge. They tried to kill me, so I beat them.¡± ¡°Good,¡± said Art gruffly. His grip had tightened on the dagger in his hand, knuckles going white. ¡°The city guard didn¡¯t catch you, of course, so no way they¡¯ll blame you.¡± ¡°Char?¡± asked Hasha. The wizard cocked his head. I looked him in the eyes. ¡°Jennifer¡­ she had a problem with one of the men. And she killed him with my dagger. It exploded with electricity, and turned him into¡­ into meat. The dagger didn¡¯t have that much power, did it? Can the effect be replicated safely, or does it¡­¡± I shook my head when I realized what I was saying. ¡°I must be a terrible person. A man dies and all I can wonder is how my weak rune could have done something like that.¡± Hasha scuffed. ¡°Well I have to applaud your magical curiosity. Besides. That man tried to kill my student for something that he wasn¡¯t even alive for. I have no sympathy for him.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t want him to die.¡± ¡°And you didn¡¯t kill him,¡± Art growled. For such a thin man, he could produce deep growls. ¡°Jenny did.¡± ¡°Yeah but¡­¡± What kind of monster doesn¡¯t care? I worried more about Jennifer than I did the man she¡¯d killed. He¡¯d been a mean little shit but he at least deserved the sympathy deserving of any normal human, right? So why didn¡¯t I give a damn? Why did I have so much concern about the fact I had no concern? Hasha stared at me as my mind ran in circles before rising up and patting me on the back. ¡°Hey. Let¡¯s talk about something else,¡± he smiled up at me, then nodded at my back room. ¡°How¡¯s the prototype?¡± ¡°Still working on it,¡± I said. ¡°Show me what you have,¡± asked Hasha. I nodded, leading him in. I ignored the fact that, considering both he and Art had been arguing in here before I came in, he¡¯d probably already seen everything. I welcomed the distraction, and he knew it. As we left, Art began filling one of the forges with charcoal, preparing to work through the rest of the day and into the night. Chapter 2 My room was also clean. This was because I simply couldn¡¯t stand the idea of it being dirty. Dirty meant dangerous. I¡¯d had that hammered into my skull a thousand time in my lessons. While Hasha may not have wanted to come off that way, that was how I took the rules of magic. As such, my back room had three shelves on each side, all six built by me. I¡¯d installed drawers into them, and painstakingly wrote the names of the objects kept inside. They held slivers of metal, plant samples, chemicals, a set of jeweler¡¯s tools, and even a glass vial full of my own blood inscribed with the rune for ice, ¨©saz, to keep it from decaying. The rune was simple, just a single line, but it kept the sample at freezing temperatures. Directly across from the door was my set of equipment. A few large tanks of gas, two with a sign warning of how flammable he gases within were, sat there, while a rack held the various hammers and chisels I used in my work, as well as several tools I¡¯d created myself. There were two more things in the room that were important. The first was the artifact I¡¯d been working on for weeks, a project that could change my life. The second, was the armor. It sat on a stand. It was massive, made to fit even my large bulk. The chest plate was a simple curved piece to deflect any bladed blows. The pauldrons were formed to fit my shoulders, the gauntlets segmented to let me move. The back had a large bulge with a hole at the bottom. The thighs and calves were covered as well. The boots, rather than being pointed like some I¡¯d seen, were rounded off. It was the work of many, many hours, taking massive sheets of metal and forming it to shape. I¡¯d polished it to a bright silver, planishing the dents out, heat-treating it, and hammering it. I¡¯d come with several new ways to strengthen metal, and ended up working out several ways to add carbon to the process, further strengthening it. Hasha blinked at the sight of the armor, then walked over to look at the armor. He touched the fine metal weave underneath the armor. ¡°This¡­how did you do this?¡± Underneath the armor was the chainmail I¡¯d developed. The one I¡¯d made the chainmail with magic. I have no real skill with magic, at least not in the sort that begs immediate results or adaptation in the moment. It take a lot for me to produce even the smallest effects. If I want to blast out a fireball, I¡¯d need several hours to do so, and wouldn¡¯t be able to produce much. Hasha, on the other hand, could probably destroy the whole building around us. But the magic I was good at all had to deal with being patient, keeping calm and cool. Years of fighting the baser instincts of an Orc had made me an expert in the practice of meditation, and that was what I¡¯d instilled in my magical specializations. The chainmail was an example of that. It had originally been a cotton pieces of cloth. In my research, I¡¯d studied transmutation, and found that many people disregarded it. The process of, for example, turning wood to gold required actual gold in the exact amount you wanted to make. You couldn¡¯t simply give a wood chair the traits of gold without paying the exact amount as the weight of the object you were transmuting. But then, I had a thought. The important part of the process wasn¡¯t that the chair became gold. It was that gold took on the form of a chair. ¡°Based off that hypothesis,¡± I explained to Hasha as he took the thick weave between his hands. ¡°I wondered if transmutation is not the changing of one material to another, but the changing of the properties of the material itself. A hybrid material. So I took an old cotton shirt, and a piece of steel, and focused on giving the shirt the same strength as the steel without sacrificing flexibility or increasing the weight. Then I did it on seven other shirts. So I now have chainmail that weighs as much as seven cotton shirts, has the same thin weave as such a shirt without the large holes others do, and¡­ well.¡± I waved at the chainmail. ¡°Hmm,¡± Hasha sighed. ¡°I¡¯ll have to see your calculations. You accounted for all the numbers?¡± ¡°I think so,¡± I replied. ¡°Just in case, I made sure to spend as much time on my runes of strength as I did the actual transmutation of the cotton.¡± ¡°Good,¡± Hasha nodded firmly. ¡°Even it does end up being as weak as simple cotton, that will do the job,¡± he looked over at me. ¡°Did you consider using carbon rather than steel itself? Because if you remember what I taught you about the physical magic of materials¡­¡± I nodded eagerly. ¡°I¡¯ve got new calculations for that. If I can get the carbon to form into a crystal lattice, similar to what diamonds have, layer it the way I do with the steel cotton, and make sure it all goes well, then the tensile strength will be massive.¡± ¡°And you¡¯ll have the most powerful chainmail ever made,¡± Hasha finished. He laughed. ¡°A bit dramatic, as statements go, but still. Brilliant! Of course, you¡¯d have to deal with superconductivity, but a few runes to absorb electricity and deflect, and you¡¯ll be fine,¡± he winced. ¡°Well, theoretically. We¡¯ll have to run tests,¡± Hasha smiled, for we both knew tests were some of the best parts of magic. Theory was good, but application was the real gem. He then looked over the armor again. ¡°And the runes? How many have you put in? That are working in concert?¡± Here I winced. Armor is, and always will be, the most expensive, time consuming thing to build for a blacksmith. I¡¯d saved for over a year to get enough money to build the armor, to collect the iron and steel for myself. I¡¯d done extra jobs at the docks for the money, taking on severe ridicule and doing heavy labor for the copper to buy the ingots and ore that I wanted. And since everything was made to fit me, I had to buy absolutely massive amounts of metal. And in the end, the armor was a failure. At least for the purposes I¡¯d created it. ¡°There are thirty-seven different runes through-out the armor,¡± Hasha¡¯s eyes lit up with hope. ¡°Three are working in concert on front of each boot, five in the chestplate, five in the back attachment, four on each pauldron, six in each gauntlet, and one at the neck.¡± The hope in his eyes disappeared. He stared at me, shocked. ¡°Wha, but¡­ thirty-seven!¡± Hasha shook his head, despairing. ¡°What happened? You worked so hard!¡± The disappointment in his voice made me want to scream in anger at myself. I calmed myself with the experience of long practice. ¡°I tried to get the required ten working in concert but¡­ It was too dangerous. I had my set up correct, but I¡­ I just couldn¡¯t do it.¡± ¡°Damn it Char,¡± said Hasha in disappointment. ¡°You¡¯re too cautious. It¡¯s a good trait, but if you keep holding yourself back¡ª¡± ¡°I¡¯d have thought not wanting to get blown up was a normal thing,¡± I said sarcastically. ¡°Or is that just orcs?¡± ¡°Char,¡± He glared. ¡°You know what I mean. You need to get over this irrational fear. You aren¡¯t the best wizard, but you can certainly become an excellent runemaker. You just need to balance that cautious nature of yours with some spontaneity.¡± I winced. He was right. I just couldn¡¯t conceive of doing something so dangerous. Runes had to be carved with exact lines and dimensions. They acted as the channels and pools for mystical energy, guiding them. And connecting runes was even worse. You had to worry about the way the lines flowed, the confluence of each design, the eventual result¡­ it was infuriatingly complex. And then of course, a single screw-up could blow you up. Or freeze you. Or erase you from existence. (The last was more theoretical. After all, if someone was erased from existence, how would you hear about them? They didn¡¯t, and never had, existed.) The highest I¡¯d ever connected was six. The first level of grandmaster required ten. The armor was my first real attempt at reaching grandmaster level. Sure, I wouldn¡¯t ever be able to claim the coveted amulet and the title given by the Jarvin Tower to all runic grandmasters, but I¡¯d know it, and Hasha would know it. That had been enough for me to put in the time. I¡¯d made armor with Art a few times, and by making my own, I¡¯d have plenty of surface area to do the job. I¡¯d spent silver, real silver, on all of the materials for it. Not just metal, but the chemicals, plants, and rocks to truly incorporate magic into the armor. Dozens of pages in my notebooks were dedicated to the project. Dozens of theories incorporated into the steel before us. All for nothing. Damn it. I quickly tried to get Hasha away from the subject. ¡°Besides, I couldn¡¯t afford the regents to do the job safely. I have to wait until I can afford more. Nothing to do for now.¡± Hasha brightened. ¡°Oh, well if you need money¡ª¡± I shook my head quickly, now feeling guilty on top of the rest of my emotions. ¡°No. I want to obtain grandmastery myself. If I¡¯m going to do this, it will be on my own. I can accept the help for things like food, but for this¡­ I want to do this myself. He scoffed, folding his arms. ¡°Rather prideful of you.¡± All I could do was smile. ¡°Maybe. But at the least, the armor works. It may not be at grandmaster level, but it¡¯s still the best thing I¡¯ve ever built.¡± I meant it too. I¡¯d put in everything I knew about physical and spiritual magic into the armor. It was my greatest work. At least for now. I didn¡¯t look over at the artifact I¡¯d been building in the corner of the room. Hasha smiled at the pride in my voice. We sat in comfortable silence, looking at my creation. After a moment, Hasha coughed. ¡°I uh, won¡¯t be able to come tomorrow.¡± I frowned. ¡°Right. The Prophesied Child.¡± Hasha nodded. The Prophesied Child was a relatively new legend in the city, only about twenty years old or so. Years ago, Turab had been struck by a plague. Called Undead Maker, it had caused the bodies organs to slowly shutdown one by one, leaving people to slowly die as their organs rotted inside them. The name was for the horrid rotting smell that arose from the infected. A cure was eventually found thanks to several alchemists working with druids, who discovered the bacteria that was killing people had a very similar, but far less fatal, counterpart. They realized that people who had fought off the second disease were immune to the more lethal variant. Based on this, they created what they called ¡®inoculations¡¯, and saved many from the horrible disease. But even so, thousands had died. Families had been torn apart. People started to despair. And then the prophecy came. A girl would rise among the chaos. The girl who would save the land from the great evil that threatened it. It was all very vague and, well, prophetic. But in the wake of the Undead Maker plague, it was a breath of hope that people desperately clung onto. She¡¯d been touted as the soon to be hero of Turab, raised in a chapel since as long as I could remember. When the Chapel of Valor, the religious center of Jarvin, wasn¡¯t preaching about being good to your neighbors, they were signing praises of their messiah. And yet, no one had ever seen her. Until tomorrow, when she would be debuting in the city square. I had to admit, I was curious. I¡¯d never seen a hero before. ¡°I¡¯ve been told I have to attend,¡± Hasha said with disgusted look on his face. ¡°And to wear the damn robes.¡± I snorted in humor. Hasha hated the fact that the official uniform for Jarvin Tower¡¯s wizards were robes. He tended to avoid the other wizards, as their methods and his differed, but what he hated most were the long, flowing robes. He preferred a simple shirt and trousers, with thick protective gear when necessary. ¡°Always trip over the damn things,¡± he growled, then mumbled a curse in elven. Of course, like all elven, it sounded beautiful, for all the savagery of the curse itself. ¡°I suppose I¡¯ll stay in tomorrow,¡± I said rhetorically. ¡°Yes. Crowds like the one tomorrow might riot if they see an orc amongst them,¡± Hasha said bluntly. True though. Crowds in Jarvin didn¡¯t get too insane, but if they felt I was some sort of random orc assassin, everyone from the bakers to the fishermen might tear me apart. ¡°Gods, but I hate prophecies,¡± Hasha groaned. ¡°What is the point of an adventure where you know the outcome from the start? Might as well stay at home and reread a favorite book if I want to do something I already know the ending to. Prophecies are bullshit.¡± ------ The next day, I was working on something new. Art had left for the Prophesied Child. He wasn¡¯t a devout man, but he did have hope that she would turn out to be everything the Chapel of Valor claimed she would be. More importantly, many possible clients might go as well. Clients hoping for things as expensive as a suit of armor for example. Granted, we didn¡¯t hold much hope. As hard as we worked, the number of people willing to overlook my orc ancestry was just enough to keep us alive with Hasha helping (Though neither of us had any idea where Hasha was getting his money on the income of a researcher). Still, that left me alone. From the moment I¡¯d woken up, the loud noise of the parade outside, with people cheering and loud music, had filled the house. With nothing else to do, I fell back on one of my standard forms of fighting boredom. I immediately went into my workshop. The first thing I did was take inventory. I kept a small booklet with the names and numbers of all my materials based on what they could be used for, with intersecting lines if they had more than one use. With this, I was able to keep track of what I had, where it was, and why I had it. A good memory is fine, but paper, that marvelous invention, can hold onto information for years if taken care of. Once I¡¯d checked over my materials, I grabbed one of the tanks from the floor, my runic notebook, and several of my materials. A simple metal file, flexible tubes that were attached to a metal one, a few drops of my blood in a small glass vial, a cougar¡¯s eye, small pieces of lanthanum, nickel, and tin, the steel I¡¯d shaped into a helm for my face, and finally a large piece of glass. I entered the main shop and took my equipment to a table in the corner. While I usually used my workshop for my projects, I felt like getting some sunlight. Even with all the commotion and the wide-open holes in the ceiling, I still had a relative amount of quiet, and found myself humming contently as I assembled my objects on the empty table. I went back to the workshop, this time for my alchemy set and jeweler¡¯s tools, then came back carrying the two small red boxes. I most likely wouldn¡¯t use all the equipment, but having them on hand would keep me from having to get up a dozen times. My idea for the helm was simple. I wanted it to be able to protect my head of course. But more than that, I wanted it to be able to improve my senses as well. I¡¯d heard of a few wizards who could use magic to shape the air so that it could be used as microscope or telescope, seeing things that were small or far away with ease. I even used a microscope myself, a small black one that was a gift from Jennifer, to look at the smaller details of my works. There were other wizards who did things to improve their sense of smell or hearing. But those spells were temporary at best, either lasting a few minutes or shutting down when the wizard lost focus. My idea was to create something that could improve several senses at once, and could activate and reactivate with a thought while using little to no energy. It would be hard, but if I could do it right, then I¡¯d need fifteen connected spells to make it work! More than enough to qualify for runic grandmastery. That is, if I could get over my fear. That was part of why I was trying for fifteen. That way even if I only got to say, twelve, then I¡¯d still succeed in my grandmastery. Pushing down the thought, I sat down in a wooden chair and took the glass in my hand. It was thick, round with dull edges. With careful deliberation, I opened the box of jewelry tools. I¡¯d gathered the tools out of garbage from behind some of the bigger jewelry shops in uptown Jarvin. I couldn¡¯t afford crystals of course, but glass works as a very inferior replacement for cheap jewels, and my jewelry set had several tools specific for shaping and etching glass. Which I suppose really made it a jewel and glass shaping set. Taking out the small sharp piece of metal I needed, I took a deep breath. With the ease of long practice, I set up my intent. First, the rune I needed. I flipped my runic notebook open to the relevant page. The rune took up most of the page. Mannaz, the symbol that represents sentient beings. It was a beginner¡¯s symbol, one of the ones discovered hundreds of years ago. Runes were once thought to be an ancient language, but it was later discovered that they were more like¡­ rivers, I suppose. When you poured mana into them, the magic would follow the engraved surface to create the effect. And if you combined elements with them, runes became even more powerful. A rune connected to water engraved using acid, for example, would be even more powerful due to the use of a liquid in the process. Part of a runemakers job was discovering what each rune could do, and how to make them stronger. In this case, mannaz would link the glass to the wearer¡¯s thoughts and body. That way the next runes would follow that link. And I was using steel, since sentient beings are made of large amount of earth, and would be finishing with an acid etch, to represent the liquid running through our veins. I¡¯d follow up by setting the glass to the helm, after strengthening the glass visor with another rune so it wouldn¡¯t ever shatter and blind me in an excruciating manner, I¡¯d be able to see with incredible detail whenever I was wearing the helm. Planes, maybe I could even set it up to see thermal spots! The idea made me grin, my fangs popping out. I stopped just short of wiggling with excitement, calming down. With the rune fresh in my mind, I pressed the metal in my hand to the glass, and began to¡ª BOOM BOOM! With a yelp, I fell off my chair, slamming into the ground on my buttocks. The room shook as my massive form hit the floor. Dazed at the sudden knock at the door, I looked around. ¡°What in the¡ª?¡± Two more loud bangs brought my attention to the door behind me. I¡¯d thought it was the door to the house, but apparently someone was knocking to the door to the workshop instead. Rising up, I placed the metal tip back into the jewel/glass shaping box and rushed to the door, opening it. ¡°¡­Hello?¡± was all I could say, confusion filling me. Standing before me was a girl. A tiny, blonde human girl who looked around my age, wearing full armor. She stared up at me, shocked, her hand lifted up to knock again. I stared down at her, more confused than I could ever remember being. Then she squeaked. It was an annoyingly adorable sound. ¡°Uh, hello!¡± She bowed. She bowed respectfully. To an orc. My confusion only increased as she came up from her bow and smiled. ¡°I was hoping I could hide in your shop!¡± ¡°H-Hide?¡± I stuttered. I couldn¡¯t help it. This was so out of my routine. Tiny human girls don¡¯t bow respectfully to me, they run screaming for the city guard (Not an exaggeration sadly, as it had happened on two occasions). ¡°Yes,¡± said the girl. She looked around frantically. ¡°Please! Just for a bit!¡± She seemed scared. Worried. I hesitated. She ran up to random shop and asked to be hidden? From who? Why? What if her pursuers came here? ¡°Please?¡± Aw damnit. She was staring at me with big eyes, her lip quivering. Never in my life had I seen someone make that face. She looked like I¡¯d be kicking a puppy if I didn¡¯t do as she asked. With a feeling I was only inviting massive amounts of trouble into my life, I stepped aside. Smiling brightly, she rushed into my workshop, and I closed the door behind her. ------ Twenty minutes later, I was working on my helm, using my welding torch to add another portion to it. The girl was sitting on a chair a safe distance away, shading her eyes with a colored glass I¡¯d given her so that she wouldn¡¯t be blinded by the light of the welding torch. I welded another section, taking my time. With the addition of another person in the room, I¡¯d chosen not to work on runes, instead putting on my thick leather apron and a thick square face guard with a colored glass window made to let me see what I was doing while protecting my eyes. I did those best when on my own and without distraction. Welding still required focus, but at least things wouldn¡¯t explode. Well, they were less likely to explode. Welding was something Hasha and I had invented to help the shop, based on several principles of purely physical magic, so suddenly thinking about something else in the middle of it wouldn¡¯t be disastrous as with runes. Even the welding helmet had been made by Art when he noticed how blinding the sparks from welding were. But all that was just me waffling. Welding could have waited. The truth was that if I tried to make a rune now, I¡¯d probably fail immediately from the sheer presence of the other person. I had no idea what to do with the girl in the room. A girl. Someone my age, not like Art, Hasha, or Jennifer. As I worked, I could feel the girl¡¯s eyes on me. She hadn¡¯t looked away even once as I worked, apparently fascinated by what I was doing. Or maybe she just hadn¡¯t ever seen an orc before. I gave her a brief glance under my welding helmet. She was gorgeous. Speaking as someone who had known Jennifer and her girls my whole life, I knew a thing or two about beauty, and even they would have been a bit jealous of this girl. Short blonde hair that seemed to glow in the light, skin so clean and smooth it seemed to beg to be touched, and a face that was the perfect combination of cute and attractive. She pursed full lips, biting her bottom one as she stared at what I was doing with bright blue eyes filled with curiosity. Her armor was even more interesting. It was clearly expensive, made of bright steel that was mirror polished. On her chest was a pair of wings made of what had to be gold. The feathers of the wings were so detailed they almost seemed to begin to flutter from where they rested on her chest. Still, it wasn¡¯t how I would have made the armor. ¡°How are you doing that?¡± She asked, sounding amazed. I kept my hands moving, making sure to maintain my work for a moment. Once I was done, I turned off the welder and put it carefully aside in a stone box made for it. I double-checked my weld. I¡¯d have to add to it, and file it down after, but it was more than perfect for now. Only once I was sure of what I¡¯d done did I turn to look at the girl. ¡°My welding torch?¡± I asked. When she looked confused I explained. ¡°The fire I was using to fuse the metal pieces.¡± ¡°Oh, yes!¡± She sounded oddly happy. ¡°The fire! It was so small, but you were making the metal spark! Was that magic?¡± I was torn. On the one hand, I had no idea how to respond to this enthusiasm. Most people tended to avoid talking to me at all, and generally only with contempt. On the other hand, I never really got to show off my ideas. Hasha sometimes said that a painter who never shows his art is not a true painter. All ideas must be shared before they become worthy of the name. But I¡¯d never gotten the chance. Give me half a chance and I would talk a person¡¯s ear off. But not many want to listen to the ideas of a half-orc. But this girl, smiling so enthusiastically, eyes shining¡­ ¡°It¡¯s called ¡®welding¡¯.¡± I patted the tank next to me. ¡°There is an alchemical mixture in this tank.¡± I pointed to the tube rising out of the top of the tank and going to the welder itself. ¡°The mixture is pulled through this tube, made of an airtight material I created based on the sap of certain trees. When I ignite it, the gas is so hot that I can use these,¡± I took a strand of metal off the table, holding it out for her to see how thin the metal was. ¡°To fill in the gaps between the metal. It creates a powerful bond, letting me create more intricate designs in less time without compromising the overall strength of the project.¡± ¡°Wow,¡± She came over to stare at the project in question. ¡°That¡¯s amazing!¡± ¡°My teacher created the process,¡± I said honestly. ¡°I just use it.¡± ¡°And what is this?¡± ¡°A part of a helm I¡¯m making,¡± I lifted it up. ¡°I embedded some runes into it, heat treated it, and I¡¯m welding it together with the other parts. This will be the visor after I finish putting the runes into the glass,¡± I lifted it to my face, showing where the glass would fit. She giggled a bit as the sight of my serious eyes looking at her through the space. ¡°Runes¡­ so you¡¯re a wizard?¡± That had me blinking at her. An orc¡­ wizard? Who had ever heard of such a thing? I considered that she might have been making fun of me, only to see that she was serious. ¡°No, I¡¯m not. I was trained by one however. He taught me how to use alchemy and magic to improve my blacksmithing. The welder is a part of the alchemy I¡¯ve learned from him. I also use the magical research he¡¯s taught me to create steel with a high carbon content, which makes steel stronger.¡± A simplified way to explain it, as high carbon steel could sometimes be brittle, but explaining the concept of balancing all the different ways of forging steel over the course of hours to make a single piece that was strong and flexible would have taken up a lot of time. She took the piece from me and looked through the eyeholes herself, amazed. ¡°How do you do that?¡± ¡°Well, wizards are those who research the universe. They aren¡¯t like mages, sorcerers, or warlocks, who use magic primarily for combat, or druids, alchemists, blacksmiths, and priests, who use magic to grow plants, create potions and tools, or heal,¡± I explained. ¡°Wizards like my teacher have a focus on studying both magic and the natural processes of the universe. Things like the movement of the stars in the sky, the changes of a soul over the course of centuries, the migration patterns of fish, and the use of evocation magic to throw a ball of flame, are all a part of the wizards work.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that a lot?¡± she asked, shocked. ¡°Not really. Wizards tend to have a focus in their research,¡± I explained. ¡°My master has a preference for alchemy, or the study of how different things react with each other, though he has a good base in most other magic and research. Others might be good with water based magic, or in the study of the difference between each school of magic and how they mix.¡± I turned the piece of metal in my hand to show her the runes I¡¯d carved into the inside. ¡°He¡¯s taught me a bit of enhancement magic, the school of giving people and objects abilities or properties they wouldn¡¯t have otherwise. It tends to have many facets.¡± The runes I¡¯d carved were extremely small. I¡¯d had to spend hours over them with a file and blade, making sure each groove was perfect. I had plans to figure out how to make my runes even smaller one day however. ¡°Why smaller?¡± asked the girl. She leaned over to look at the rune in question. I blinked, only to realize I¡¯d continued explaining things to her on autopilot. I had a habit of doing that, just spitting what I was thinking. Except, I only did that around Hasha, Jennifer, and Art¡­ Discarding the thought, I continued. ¡°Well, runes work best when they are complete, detailed, and have been carefully formed out of energy. So that means most people make very large runes, and use only one for each piece. They are easy to create, because you don¡¯t have to put as much work into perfecting all the details, and you have less of a chance of runes interfering with each other.Stolen novel; please report. ¡°For example, a chef doesn¡¯t throw random food into a pot. They have to be careful with each ingredient, and the more careful they are, the better the food. If they simply do whatever they want, they could end up with food that is overly sour, burnt, or even poisonous. Runes are the same way. You have to be careful about every groove and pattern you make, and that the effects that you are looking for mix well. An electric rune doesn¡¯t mix well with a rune of water, so placing both on the same piece can do either nothing, or become disastrous. ¡°However, smaller runes mean that you can add more effects and even layer them together, since you are using less surface area. For example, if I give a breastplate two runes that increase metal strength, then the breastplate will be twice as strong as adding just one rune.¡± ¡°Wow,¡± She smiled. ¡°That sounds amazing.¡± ¡°It¡¯s hard work though,¡± I sighed. ¡°I have to use really precise tools and instruments to do it. It take hours to finish a rune, and it takes magical energy to do it. And then, I have to do it while forging metal, so that the runes blend magically into the metal. So I end up forging steel while I¡¯m using alchemy and runes to make it even stronger. And with how small I make the runes, it sometimes doesn¡¯t work.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± She sounded less impressed now. ¡°Well, what does this one do?¡± She pointed at the rune on the piece of metal. It was placed at the forehead. The mannaz symbol? Had I already incorporated it in? Odd of me to forget. If I¡¯d placed another one into the glass like I¡¯d planned, they would have negated each other. ¡°That¡¯s the symbol to represent sentient beings,¡± I explained simply. ¡°It just tells the other runes that they¡¯re being used by a person, so that I can control them.¡± The girl nodded. She seemed impressed again, which was nice. I¡¯d never had someone who didn¡¯t know me act like my creations were worth a damn. ¡°So, what are you hiding from?¡± I put the piece away in a box, turning from her. When I turned back, she was stepping into the back room. ¡°Hey!¡± No one was supposed to go in there! I kept my more dangerous tools and project back there specifically to make sure no one would get hurt by a mistake, and she was just strolling in!? I rushed after her, terrified I would hear a sudden explosion, or see a rune activate and do something horrible to her. Both unlikely scenarios due to all the safeties I¡¯d placed everywhere, but I was still terrified. When I entered, I was relieved to see her simply poking at a steel cotton shirt I had hanging on a rack. She looked over at me, confused. ¡°Is this chainmail?¡± ¡°No one is supposed to come in here.¡± At my stern tone of voice, she blushed. ¡°O-Oh, I¡¯m sorry! I just saw this and¡­¡± She looked back at the shirt. ¡°This is chainmail, yes? But it¡¯s so small! How did you do this?¡± ¡°I turned cloth to metal,¡± I took her by the shoulders and began to guide her from the room. ¡°W-What!?¡± ¡°I took a cotton shirt and used a transformation spell to turn the cotton into steel. It takes thirteen hours per shirt, since I¡¯m not good at it, and you have to be careful to have absolute focus while constantly calculating how much metal you need. But you end up with chainmail as strong as steel and thin and light as a shirt. That way I wear multiple levels without sacrificing strength.¡± ¡°What is that?¡± Ignoring the way I was pushing her, she pointed at my armor stand that stood at the back of the room. I looked over at the steel gray armor. ¡°My armor prototype,¡± I grunted, still pushing her out. ¡°It¡¯s so different from mine,¡± said the girl in confusion. ¡°That¡¯s because that one is made for battle, not ceremony,¡± Well, for my grandmaster attempt really, but I didn¡¯t see the point in making non-functional armo¡ª ¡°W-What!?¡± she spun away from me. I blinked, shocked at how fast she¡¯d moved. One minute she¡¯d been letting me push her. The next she was two steps in front of me and looking me in the eyes. ¡°This is my battle armor!¡± I stared at her. Then I looked at her armor. The ornate gold wings on her chest, the two protrusions shaped to her breasts, the silver pauldrons on her shoulders, and the small cloth ribbons all over the body that gave her the appearance of a spirit of war about to take flight. ¡°It¡­ It¡¯s very pretty,¡± that came out a lot more nervously then I wanted it to. Honestly, the armor looked good. Even the gauntlets, greaves, and boots, the pieces most often left unadorned, were works of art, with embossed designs all in what had to be pure gold. It was beautiful. ¡°But it¡¯s not battle armor.¡± Her cheeks filled with air, like a chipmunk with its cheeks full. It moved her appearance from attractive to adorable. ¡°How dare you! My armor is made for me to fight the greatest enemies of the land!¡± Ah. Now that was familiar. Anger and condescending attitude. I had no idea what it said about me that I was far more comfortable with this than I was her awe and polite speech. It wasn¡¯t what I was used to. I had no idea what to do when a stranger was being polite. But this? I could understand this. ¡°Listen,¡± I let a bit of my orcish side, the gruff anger that turned the sound of my speech into something horrific, come out. ¡°Armor being ornate is not a problem. Armor is only given to those who represent the best in the land, those who are chosen to defend the land. They should remind others of the elevated status of the wearer,¡± I tapped her armor, on the gold wing extending over the left side of her chest. She gasped in shock, but I ignored her. ¡°But you have pure gold on your armor. Gold is soft, heavy, and extremely expensive to replace if damaged. Silver isn¡¯t much better, and I can see a lot of that as well. The pauldrons are also much too big. Are you a longsword user?¡± ¡°Y-Yes.¡± ¡°Then your pauldrons, while they do look very stylized, are also so big that they will end up squashing your skull if you ever do an overhead strike. That also tells me your armor, though pretty, is obviously not made to your needs or shaped to your body. How long did it take to make the armor?¡± She stared at me, dumbfounded. ¡°I-I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°Hmm,¡± I looked her over, circling her. She stood still, letting me look over the armor. ¡°I¡¯d guess whoever made it for you wanted it to be a surprise, so they sized it from the clothes you wear. It would work if done right, but the preferred method is for the smith themselves to make the measurements. That way they have an absolute image of how they want the armor to look, and can make something that will fit you for years. And finally, your breasts.¡± ¡°M-My what!¡± she covered herself with her arms, scandalized. ¡°It is not a requirement to make depressions specifically for the breasts,¡± I growled. ¡°Armor is heavy, will always be much hotter or colder than you prefer, and makes you sweat. Most people wear padding in the chest area underneath their chainmail to absorb the sweat, absorb blows, or warm the skin. Which makes breast protrusions an odd, as well as useless, addition. And then of course, the main purpose of plate armor like yours is to deflect blows; those protruding sections will instead guide blows inward towards your sternum, possibly allowing an opponent to shatter bones there.¡± It was almost as if no one ever intended for her to go into battle. Why tell her this was battle armor? If they wanted her to get killed in the field, why spend such expense? Why make her beautiful armor made for nothing but ceremony, and let her think she could go into war in said armor? ¡°I see,¡± She no longer sounded angry. Now she seemed a lot more thoughtful than anything. ¡°Do I have to get new armor?¡± said the girl worriedly, looking over her shoulder at me as I circled her. ¡°New battle armor, yes,¡± I came around in front of her, toning down the gruffness of my voice. ¡°It will protect you better than this one. This armor will do well if you want to impress at a banquet or during a parade. But you really shouldn¡¯t sacrifice function for beauty.¡± Right then, someone knocked on the door. I looked over at it, frowning. ¡°Hmm. I wonder who this is.¡± With the celebration for the reveal of the Prophesied Child, I hadn¡¯t expected anyone to come by the shop at all. And now I had my second visitor. I walked over to the door, speaking over my shoulder to the girl. ¡°Listen, if you don¡¯t want a half-orc doing your armor, I¡¯d understand. There are several blacksmiths in the city I can recommend, one even does work for the city guard, and they take jobs for us when a client doesn¡¯t want me doing the work. Just let me¡ª,¡± When I opened the door, there was another person in armor. He looked up at me grimly. He was wearing simple steel armor, and had a sword bared in his right hand. His black hair was cut almost to the skin, and a trace of stubble rested on his chin. Piercing hazel eyes stared into me as though he was checking for my soul. ¡°Orcling. I¡¯ve heard that my charge entered this domicile.¡± ¡°That is incorrect,¡± I said without thinking. His eyes narrowed dangerously. ¡°You dare lie to me?¡± ¡°Not that,¡± I said quickly. ¡°This is not a domicile. It is a place of business. A domicile would be a permanent home for an individual. The domicile is at the front.¡± He blinked, apparently unprepared for that. ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t¡­¡± ¡°Richard?¡± the girl poked her head out from behind me. She sounded hesitant, but not scared. ¡°My lady,¡± he said in relief. I stepped aside to let him enter, fairly certain from their reactions that he wasn¡¯t about to hurt her. He wrapped her in a hug, their armored chests clinking as they met, and she hugged him back. ¡°I was so worried. When I heard you¡¯d left the celebration, I feared you¡¯d been taken.¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine, Richard,¡± she pulled away and gave him a smile. ¡°I just wanted to see the city for myself. Char let me rest here when I got tired.¡± Is that what I did? I¡¯d thought she¡¯d been running from some sort of danger. Now I found she was some sort of noblewoman who¡¯d been a victim of her curiosity. As I thought that, the man, Richard, turned to give me a surprised look. ¡°Your name is Char?¡± ¡°Yes. I¡¯m apprenticed to the owner of this shop.¡± He looked around the shop, raising an eyebrow at the table full of the things I¡¯d set up to work on my helm. ¡°I see,¡± he drew away from the girl, facing me fully. His hand made a brief clanging noise when he placed a hand to his chest and bowed. ¡°Thank you for keeping her safe, orcli¡ª¡­Char,¡± He sighed. ¡°After all, we can¡¯t very well have a Prophesied Child Celebration without the Prophesied Child herself.¡± ¡°Yes, I imagine that would be¡­ Oh,¡± I stared between the two. The girl was looking at the ground. The man was still bowing. And I had a legend standing in the shop. A legend who I¡¯d pushed around, lectured, and¡­and I¡¯d spent time talking about the uselessness of the breasts on her armor. Dead. That¡¯s what I was. She¡¯d tell Richard about my rudeness, and I¡¯d be skinned alive and cooked in boiling oil. As I stared at them, horrified (This cute girl was the future savior of the world!?) Richard rose from his bow and turned to the girl. ¡°My lady, we must leave.¡± She sighed sadly. ¡°Yes, I suppose I¡¯ve imposed on him enough. Oh, thank you again for the advice, Char! I hope we can meet again!¡± Oh no. She was employing sarcasm. My impertinent speech had angered her, and soon I¡¯d be called in for my execution. She must have been far more practiced with sarcasm than I assumed, because she seemed sincere. Bowing as one, the pair rose and left the shop. I staggered over to a chair, eyes wide in terror, and broke out into a cold sweat. A random thought hit me. Despite all that time, I¡¯d never once heard the Prophesied Child¡¯s name. ------ ¡°Of all the shops the Prophesied Child came to, she chose ours!?¡± Art rushed around the house, shoving things into bags. ¡°Why did you even let her in?¡± ¡°In my defense,¡± I grumbled as I shoved another notebook into my cheap leather satchel. ¡°No one ever saw her face before today.¡± ¡°Well we need to go,¡± said Art rhetorically. ¡°Only what we can lift. We¡¯ll send a letter to Hasha and Jennifer, have them hold the rest for us until we can set up somewhere else. If the Prophesied Child really does decide it¡¯s time to play ¡®impale the half-orc¡¯, she¡¯ll need to chase us.¡± ¡°Where do we go?¡± I tried to stay calm, but paranoia kept making me want to lash out. Every person with a lantern passing by was the person who¡¯d come and take me away. Anger and fear bounced inside me. ¡°Head south to the docks,¡± Art shoved a shirt into a bag. ¡°There¡¯s captains that will take us further west into the continent on the river. From there, we can take move into one of the other rivers, head all the way to the Decortana Forest. There¡¯s hundreds of miles of forest up there.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that Elvin territory?¡± ¡°Elves don¡¯t have the same hatred human, dwarves, and halflings do for orcs. They might dislike you, but they won¡¯t kill you outright.¡± He finished packing the bag, then looked at me. ¡°Keep packing. I¡¯ll head upstairs. The carriage should be coming to take us soon. Answer the door when it does,¡± When I nodded, he stared at me for a second. Then he came over and hugged me around the waist. I stiffened in shock. As much he cared for me, Art had never been a hugger. He stepped back, gruffly releasing me. ¡°Not your fault, Char. You couldn¡¯t have expected this,¡± he cracked his neck, apparently trying to do very masculine things to make up for the hug. ¡°Now. Get back to work.¡± I stared after him as he walked upstairs. When I realized I was smiling, I growled, then started shoveling things into bags again. Moments later, there was a knock at the door. The house didn¡¯t have windows, but I could hear the loud clangs of metal on stone outside. Horseshoes on stone most likely. I hesitated. Even with all this, I didn¡¯t want to leave my home. My workshop was here, with my armor. I had to leave it behind. Too much weight to carry. My reagents, so many of my tools, the small library of fiction and non-fiction I¡¯d collected. Hours of my life, gone. But we had to leave. So, I went over to the door. When I opened it, rather than a single man with a small carriage behind him, seven men stood outside with a rather large carriage. Six men stood behind the man on my doorstep in two lines of three. They were all wearing the impressive uniforms of the Chapel of Valor guards, with a tabard depicting a fist clenching the sun in yellow on a black background. They wore chainmail under the tabards, and helms that turned their faces into intimidating walls of still with slits for them to see through. All carried halberds, and had swords and daggers at their hips. The man leading them was far less imposing. He was even shorter than the girl, I mean, the Prophesied Child, with a long hooked nose, hair slicked back by what smelled like some sort of expensive oils, and beady black eyes. His clothing was dyed entirely purple and made of what had to be silk. Both purple dyes and silk were tremendously expensive. Worth more than the forge, and even the entire building. And yet, he wore both a shirt and pants made with both. He glared at me pompously. ¡°Are you,¡± He took out a paper roll from a pouch by his side. He unrolled it, then stared at the paper disbelievingly. ¡°Char?¡± Here it was. The guards, come to take me to my execution. I¡¯d hoped the Prophesied Child was a nice and na?ve as she seemed. Even as I¡¯d packed away my things, I¡¯d prayed I could come back home one day, that I¡¯d been ridiculous. But now it was too late. I thought of attacking, running, anything. Then I decided against it. Arthur was upstairs. If I did something stupid, he might get killed. Better to surrender. Maybe I could make my escape on the way somehow? With that thought in mind, I slowly nodded. ¡°Yes. I am.¡± ¡°Hmm,¡± He looked me up and down, then snorted. ¡°I see. Come with us please.¡± ¡°What is this!?¡± We turned to see Arthur coming down the stairs, eyes already blazing. ¡°I won¡¯t let you take him!¡± ¡°Art!¡± He turned to look at me. I shook my head slowly. His eyes widened in shock and understanding. ¡°No,¡± He shook his head, sadness on his features. ¡°Char, no.¡± ¡°Take care of the shop,¡± I shrugged, trying to smile. ¡°We knew it had to happen someday.¡± ¡°Oh, stop being melodramatic!¡± The man in expensive dress said. ¡°Come!¡± I had enough time to wave. The last I saw of Arthur, he was sitting heavily on the stairs, shoulders sagging as he watched me get guided off. ------ ¡°This is a very nice carriage.¡± No one replied. The official with the long nose was writing something. The three men who¡¯d entered with us simply stared straight ahead. ¡°I haven¡¯t been in many carriages, you see. Don¡¯t even have a horse. So I¡¯m enjoying this experience.¡± Still nothing. Good. I wasn¡¯t a talker on the best of days. And forcing it on today of all days was only making me want to hit something. As hard as the steel chains and locks they¡¯d put on my wrists and ankles would make it. I looked at the tabards of the men again. A fist clenching the sun in yellow on a black background. A very militant symbol for an order that claimed peace and love as its own. Turab was a world of many religions. Some, Druids and Shamans especially, worship the spirits, the creatures from which spiritual magic had gained its name. Spirits are the sapient forces that live across the world. They take the form of the elements, sometimes appearing as women made of water, animals of fire, or even simple gusts of wind. Because of this, people see them as the true rulers of nature, and worthy of worship. Others, Warlocks and Sorcerers usually, believe the world is governed by magic itself. They believe it controls every aspect of the planes of existence, guiding the smallest and largest of events, from the explosions of a volcano, to the circling of the planets. I¡¯ve even heard of monks who live on planes far beyond Turab, travelling the stars and controlling the purest forces of magic to defend the planes of existence. The Chapel of Valor believe in an energy called the Light. Much like those who worship magic, Light worshipers think the universe is guided by the light. Paladins and Priests of the Chapel of Valor tend to manifest their magic as bright beams of light, and they see that as confirmation of the Light¡¯s existence. Hasha tends to note that magic manifests as one believes it will. And I¡¯m with him on that theory. Honestly, the ¡®Light-chancellors¡¯ of the Chapel are more than likely just using magic the way they think they should. Nothing more, nothing less. Of course, my judgement may be colored by the fact that hatred of orcs is one of the things the priests claim is of the greatest importance for their religion. The Chapel is almost the government of Jarvin. The city council almost constantly listen to the Chapel¡¯s own leadership. The only reason I haven¡¯t ever been executed are the low presence I¡¯ve been to maintain from childhood. I have done nothing to truly insult the Chapel, so they never paid me any mind. Until today. As for myself, I believe there is something controlling the universe. I don¡¯t know the name, and I don¡¯t know if there is a heaven that it controls. But I have seen the wonders of the world in my little workshop. I can¡¯t help but think there is something out there. Hopefully it likes half-orcs. Because I don¡¯t know how to pray. ------ The carriage came to a stop. ¡°Out,¡± said the official curtly. I obediently stepped out. We¡¯d been in the carriage for a while. As we left, the smell of the dirty city streets I was used to, began to give way to far cleaner scents, like lavender incense, the salt of the sea, and food cooking in shops and homes. And now, as I stepped out of the carriage, I realized why. We stood in the Nobleman¡¯s Section of Jarvin. Here, I could see Jarvin Tower even closer than ever before. Its shadow fell across the city, and it seemed to touch the sky itself. The castle where the Regent of Jarvin must have been only a few city blocks away, considering how close I stood to the Tower. The carriage has stopped in front of a space between stone walls that had to be at least twenty meters in height. The walls went inwards towards a massive castle, and a large tower stood directly in front of us, in the space between the walls. The tower in question was three stories. Several archers could be seen in the windows, with arrows trained on me as I looked up. I¡¯d never been in the Nobleman¡¯s section before, usually sticking to the poorer sections of town. And the reasons why? Well, they were staring at me. When I¡¯d stepped out, in all of my large, green skinned glory, wearing a grey shirt, brown pants, and boots, a gasp came from the people in the street. The cuffs on my wrists and ankles jingled as I stepped down, and looked across the crowd. Humans, elves, and dwarves, of all shapes and sizes, stared back at me in fear and hatred. That was the problem with the Nobleman¡¯s section. Only the wealthiest of people, from ¡®accepted¡¯ species, were allowed to live and work there. Halflings, who were thought of as nothing but dirt farmers, were one example of species that was common in the land, and yet was treated as less than others. Despite the fact that halflings were geniuses with magic, skilled farmers, and, from what Hasha once told me, excellent beer makers. So if they had such a low opinion of halflings, some of the most loyal and steadfast people in Turab, consider their hatred of me. The moldy bread that arced from the crowd towards my face wasn¡¯t a surprise. Nor were the jeers and insults that started to come from the gathered people. I was able to have a bit of fun with it however. As I walked forward, surrounded by the guards and led by the official, I started mentally critiquing the insults, ignoring the rotten food being thrown at me, ruining a very nice shirt. ¡°Greenskin!¡± Not the most creative of insults. ¡°Child-Murderer!¡± A bit of stretch that. ¡°Garbage-Digger!¡± Well, only if I needed something for my experiments. Which, to be far, was often. ¡°Asslicker!¡± Huh¡­ that one was actually pretty funny. Even as I tried to keep my spirits though, I could feel despair threatening to pull me under. Here I was, being dragged to my execution under a hail of insults and garbage. The very thing I¡¯d feared since childhood. All I had done in my life, all the control and focus I¡¯d learned, my experiments, my dreams, all gone. Nothing but hatred ahead. I fought past those thoughts. If I was to die, it would be as a man. Damn those who thought of me as monster. I¡¯d die with my head held high. Or escape. Whichever was available to me first. We walked past the tower, making the long trek towards the castle. The crowds disappeared as we walked, apparently unwilling to follow into the grounds themselves. The castle was one of the largest buildings I¡¯ve ever seen, with bright red shingles, polished stone columns, and statues in the image of gargoyles, the beasts that sometimes lived canyons in the Gunderson Mountain Range and Orc Badlands. The area surrounding the castle was interesting. While the path up to the door was stone, the area around was a well-kept lawn. Flowers grew in little patches, and a small fountain bubbled as water poured over stones. A Halfling gardener was tending to an apple tree. She was sitting in the branches, cutting a few of them away for a purpose that escaped me, but stopped as my entourage and I walked up, the sound of the chains clinking as the soldiers armored feet slapped against stone. To my surprise, the Halfling gave me a respectful nod. I returned it, and she smiled sadly before returning to pruning the tree. There was another feature in the incredible gardens surrounding the place. I only noticed its after a while. When I did, I nearly fell over. There was a small river, flwing through the grounds. It curved and twisted in strange angles, with bridges crossing it in odd ways. But, as I put it together, I realized I could sense something beneath the water. Magic. The river was an enormous rune! It must have been the work of thousands of hours! The larger the rune, the more energy it took to maintain it, and yet this one seemed to be powered by the waters flowing over it! What a concept! Using motion to power something! Of course, it would be less powerful in dry seasons, and the river overflowing might effect it, but if I could harness such a thing the way I had for electricity and pure magic, then the things I could do¡­ maybe, using the rubber tubing I¡¯d created, I could create a smaller version of this? The runes themselves were laguz and jera, along with one I didn¡¯t recognize, their lines intersecting at the bridges that crossed the water. The one I didn¡¯t recognize seemed to be acting as the baseline for the others. Laguz was usually representative of water, while jera was used for good years, or for harvest. So their presence made sense in a garden, but the final one¡­ hm. Laguz Jera One of the guards pushed me forward. Right. About to get imprisoned for execution soon. Damn, I really wanted to study the final rune. The castle doors towered over us as we walked up the many steps to enter. The doors were grand, majestic, made of a green material that shined like a pearl and had dozens of random patterns carved into it, as well as some runes. I tried to identify them, but we stepped by to quickly, the official and guards keeping me moving. The castle itself was as beautiful as its doors, moreso in fact. I shuddered to think on the many hours of work that it had taken to make such a building, with its tall ceilings and pillars as large as most building, made. The official looked back at me, and smirked. ¡°Quite the sight, isn¡¯t it?¡± he said snidely. The first words he¡¯d spoken to me since we¡¯d entered the carriage actually. ¡°¡­Yes,¡± I said softly. ¡°Hmf,¡± He sniffed, then started walking again. ¡°This way. They will be waiting for you, orcling.¡± He went right, rather than down the main hallway. We went past tapestries depicting great moments in Turab¡¯s history, or simple fairy tales. In a world where anything was possible, fact and fiction can be tough to decipher. As we walked, the chains on my ankles dragged along the thick red carpets on the floor, the links sometimes pulling at the thick weave. A few servants gaped at us, well, at me as we walked. Two, a blonde and brunette pair of girls that were almost as tall as my waist, waited until we passed to faint in what had to be a fake reaction. Or maybe I was that horrifying? I¡¯d have to do tests to make sure. Hasha would be proud. That was the second in two minutes I¡¯d pondered on experiments while being carted to an execution. As we walked, I heard voices speaking loudly. They were muffled by the distance, but slowly became louder as we came closer. ¡°¡ªan orc!¡± a female voice cried out. She sounded like an older woman. ¡°It is her right,¡± I blinked when I realized I recognized this voice. It was Richard, the man in armor who¡¯d come for the Prophesied Child earlier. He had barely registered to me last time we¡¯d met, being nothing but a man in armor at the time. But I still remembered his voice. We came around the corner to a room. It was square in shape, and not as decorative as the rest of the castle had been. There was a window on the right wall that showed several other buildings in the distance, as well as a courtyard of stone surrounding grass and¡­ a lake? How big was this place? The room itself had a bookshelf next to the window, filled with texts of every conceivable genre, some of which I owned myself. On the left wall was a tapestry depicting a dragon battling a demon as two armies warred on the ground (Which could have been a depiction of any number of wars in the last century, as demons and dragons had an infamous rivalry with one another). There was a desk in the room, with what must have been a massive couch covered in black fur behind it. Three people stood before the desk. One was Richard, dressed in the same armor he¡¯d worn earlier that day. He looked over at us, face stern as he saw who was coming. The second was an older woman, clearly the one from earlier. She was dressed in the simple black robes of a priestess, with a brown robe around her slim waist and a shawl around her shoulders. Long black hair flipped as she looked over at us, before her eyes widened at the sight of me. ¡°Light protect us,¡± she said in horror. Yet more evidence I must be terrifying to behold. More experiments would need to be done. The last person in the room surprised me. ¡°Char!¡± said the Prophesied Child. She stepped around Richard, a wide smile on her face. She was wearing far simpler armor now, the metal plates ill-fitting, but still less audacious than her earlier set. Other than that, she looked much the same. She also looked happy to see me, which suddenly made all my fears of execution seem suspect. It was only further disproved when she saw the chains on my body, and she cried out in dismay. ¡°What have you done?¡± The official blinked, then looked back at me, then at the three before him. ¡°I¡­I brought the orcling?¡± he said, sounded very confused. ¡°In chains?¡± she said in horror. The Prophesied Child stepped forward. ¡°My lady!¡± the older woman stepped forward as well, but was too late to stop the younger girl from striding across the room, stepping past the stunned official, and within mere inches of me. She took the chains around my wrist, looking me over frantically. ¡°I am so sorry! I didn¡¯t know they¡¯d do this! I just wanted to meet you again, to talk and¡ª¡± I stared at the flustered young woman in amazement as she glared at the official. ¡°Where are the keys!?¡± ¡°M-My lady, you can¡¯t free an orcling in the Chapel of Valor!¡± The official cried out in horror. ¡°His name is Char!¡± said the petite young girl. She looked over at the bemused Richard. ¡°We need to unchain him! This isn¡¯t right, he¡¯s our guest.¡± Richard and I shared a glance. I could tell that whatever else, we shared a sense of amazement at the situation we¡¯d found ourselves in. With a heavy sigh, Richard nodded to one of the soldiers next to me. The tension in the air grew as the soldier slowly stepped towards me. He took out a key and pressed it to the lock on the chains. I kept still, knowing that if I lashed out, all the orc durability in the world wouldn¡¯t stop the halberds around me from stabbing deep into my flesh. The chains around my wrists fell. Then the ones on my ankles. I rubbed my wrists, feeling the small marks where the links had caught on my tough skin, then looked at the Prophesied Child. ¡°I¡­¡± I hesitated. ¡°¡­Thank you.¡± ¡°You¡¯re welcome!¡± She smiled brilliantly, her happiness at my words clear to see. ¡°Out, all of you.¡± Richard declared. ¡°My lord¡ª¡± the official shut his mouth when Richard looked at him sternly. Gulping, the official nodded. ¡°Yes, my lord.¡± Giving me one final glare, the official and the soldiers left, leaving me with the Prophesied Child, Richard, and the priestess. I looked between them awkwardly, still confused. ¡°So¡­Nice place you¡¯ve got here.¡± The Prophesied Child beamed up at me. Richard chuffed out a laugh, then coughed to hide it. The priestess glared at me. ¡°My lady, allowing a peasant of such,¡± the priestess glared at me, ¡°breeding, is not a wise thing to do! This orcling might¡ª¡± ¡°Enough,¡± Richard waved a hand dismissively. ¡°It is done.¡± Grumbling in anger, the priestess turned away. Richard nodded, then looked at me. ¡°I suppose,¡± he said gruffly, ¡°introductions are in order. I am Richard Dedicat, a knight of the Chapel of Valor, and newly hired bodyguard to the Prophesied Child,¡± he gave her a smile. ¡°Though I¡¯ve been her caretaker for much longer than that.¡± The Prophesied Child smiled back at him, then looked at the priestess. The woman, feeling our eyes on her, scoffed. ¡°Oh, very well,¡± she said. ¡°I am a Priestess of the Chapel of Valor, Gwen Rivers. And the advisor to the Bishop of Jarvin, who is away on business.¡± ¡°And I¡¯m the Prophesied Child!¡± ¡°I hadn¡¯t guessed,¡± I said wryly. ¡°Really?¡± she blinked. ¡°Oh. Well, I am!¡± I realized then she had not encountered enough sarcasm in her life. How refreshing. ¡°And my name is Katya Narveaz! It¡¯s nice to see you again, Char!¡± she held out a friendly hand. After a moment of hesitation I took it. Feeling like it was my turn, I looked around at the three of them. The priestess still refuse to look at me without glaring suspiciously. Richard was eyeing me cautiously. And the Prophes¡ª Katya was still smiling at me. ¡°Char Com. I¡¯m a blacksmith, armorer, and trainee-in-magic.¡± The priestess snapped her eyes to stare at me in shock. ¡°You are a wizard?¡± The emphasis on the word ¡®you¡¯ made it clear what she thought of the concept. ¡°No, just a trainee. I could never be a wizard,¡± I answered honestly. ¡°Oh,¡± Katya gave me an encouraging look. ¡°I¡¯m sure you could one day!¡± I stared at her, then smiled. She was extremely na?ve. And a bit airheaded. But I was honestly beginning to like her. It was rare that I¡¯d met someone who could be so sweet to me. ¡°So¡­Why was I brought here?¡± ¡°O-Oh yes, I forgot,¡± Katya chuckled, blushing a bit, and looking over at the priestess and Richard. ¡°I¡¯ll leave to my duties then,¡± the priestess grumbled, her face pinched in anger. She glared at me again, then strode out past me. Richard watched her go, blue eyes scanning her. Then he looked at me. ¡°Well orcling, the fact of the matter is that you¡¯ve brought it to my attention that, despite being trained at costs that would bankrupt cities, and being given armor of pure gold,¡± he scoffed, ¡°my dear charge was not given armor made for the rigours of battle.¡± I immediately understood what was happening. ¡°You want me to make armor?¡± ¡°She wants to make you armor,¡± Richard nodded at the Prophesied Child, who nodded at me. ¡°I said that our own armorers here could do the job,¡± he sighed, going around the desk in the center of the room to take a letter off of it. ¡°But she will accept no less than, ¡®nice Char¡¯ as her new armourer.¡± ¡°Yep!¡± Katya nodded, eyes closed. ¡°You taught me a lot about armor, and I saw your artifacts! If you could make me armor like the one you were making, then I could save a lot more people, and make everyone safe!¡± I blinked as I watched her clutch a fist in determination, her eyes filled with determination. It was very surreal, going from an execution, to a young girl dreaming of saving the world. ¡°I have no problem making you armor,¡± I looked between the cheery Katya and the dour Richard. ¡°But I will need payment.¡± ¡°Money is no object,¡± Richard said simply. ¡°I don¡¯t know why you¡¯re the one she chose, but if you can do the job, and get it done in a week¡ª¡± ¡°A week!?¡± I stared between the two. ¡°A week? That¡¯s too short a time! Any of the other projects would need to put off for that time.¡± ¡°And we would compensate you for the damages,¡± Richard frowned. ¡°It must be done by then.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Char,¡± Katya tapped my arm, her metal armored fingers touching to the bare skin. I jumped at the feel of cold metal on my skin. She smiled in apology before speaking. ¡°I¡¯m headed into a den of monsters in a week.¡± ¡°¡­I am compelled to ask why.¡± ¡°It¡¯s part of the prophecy,¡± she said brightly. She closed her eyes, sounding as though she was speaking from memory. ¡°¡¯The Prophesied Child, with heart alight in the radiance of the Light, will step into the world of beasts, and cleanse the land of the monsters that plague it.¡¯ It is the first part of my journey,¡± her bright smile turned into a confused frown. ¡°Haven¡¯t you heard the prophecy, Char?¡± ¡°¡­¡± coughing awkwardly, I turned my head. ¡°I¡­ may not have had much contact with the Chapel of Valor before this.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± she brightened. ¡°Well, I can teach you later! While you make my armor!¡± she looked over at Richard, who was smirking at me. ¡°Right?¡± ¡°Of course my lady,¡± he kept his eyes on me as I looked down at him. ¡°Well orcling? Can you do it? Make her an armor worthy of protecting the Prophesied Child?¡± I honestly didn¡¯t know. I was still overwhelmed. I¡¯d spent the whole journey here convinced I was coming to my death. Instead, I was being given the commission of a lifetime. Armor for the Prophesied Child. There were blacksmiths who would rip their own children¡¯s tongues out and burn them to ashes for the chance to have such a job. And yet¡­ if I failed, I would be in a dangerous position. In fact, just taking the job was dangerous. This was high-profile job. People would hear about me. And some may try to harm me simply for being a half-orc. And if I failed, then some might assume I had done it in an attempt to get her killed. One wrong rune, one badly forged piece, and I¡¯d be executed. I looked at the Prophesied Child. She was staring at me hopefully, eyes quivering. Damnit. I couldn¡¯t say no. And it wasn¡¯t just because I¡¯d feel like a monster for making her sad. It was because this job was an incredible chance. If I did this right, made the greatest armor I¡¯d ever designed, then people might see me for the blacksmith I really was. I was never ashamed of my blood, but more work would come if people ignored my heritage. I could help Arthur more, pay back Hasha for all he had done for us. We could have a real business, without looking for loans from our friends. And then, there was Katya. She was supposed to be destined to save the world against a great evil. As a young child just learning how to blacksmith, I¡¯d dreamed of wearing armor I¡¯d designed and saving the land. Later, when I realized how impossible that was, I¡¯d changed my dream to having armor I¡¯d designed be worn by a great hero who saved the land. This was my chance. And I couldn¡¯t let it slip me by. ¡°I¡¯ll do it.¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Katya cheered, looking less like a great hero and more like a teenage girl. Richard grunted. ¡°All right. You can stay here for the night. You¡¯ll be under guard, but the room will be comfortable. You can get started after we get you back home in the morning.¡± ¡°This will be great!¡± Katya said happily. ¡°I¡¯ve never had a friend stay in the castle!¡± ¡°¡­Friend huh?¡± I quirked my lips at the thought. ¡°You can meet Mountain!¡± Katya walked around the desk, touching the couch I¡¯d noticed earlier and rubbing the fur. ¡°Mountain?¡± I asked. The couch moved. I froze in horror as what I¡¯d taken for a very big couch, bigger than the desk, as big as the carriage I¡¯d ridden in, slowly moved. Black fur heaved in waves as muscles even larger than my own shifted underneath it. A head moved up from the floor to look around. Eyes opened, a bright purple glow to them. A massive jaw opened and closed, teeth the size of daggers slicing the air as a bright pink tongue lolled. Four legs lifted the enormous body off the ground, before the massive being shook itself, tail wagging as floopy ears waved. A dog. A dog that was as big as a carriage. And not a small carriage either. ¡°This is Mountain,¡± Katya said brightly. ¡°He¡¯s a good boy, isn¡¯t he!?¡± She rubbed his head, her petite form even smaller next to the massive beast. He barked happily. The room shook. ¡°¡­His name may be a bit small for him.¡± On hearing me speak, Mountain turned to look at me. I froze once again. I was strong, and tough. But I got the sense that nothing short of the toughness of a bear would be able to truly impress this beast. So I simply watched as he strode over. A nose on slightly smaller than the palm of my hand sniffed at me, taking deep whiffs. Then, Mountain sat back on his heels. Even sitting, he was taller than me. A new, and very uncomfortable experience, to have someone taller than me. Then he lifted a paw, looking at me gravely. I stared at it, uncomprehending. ¡°He wants you to shake,¡± said Katya gently. Seeing no other alternative, I shook the massive beasts paw. He grinned a toothy, doggy grin, eyes still glowing with purple light. He circled around to Katya, and she smiled at me. ¡°So¡­Can I watch you when I make the armor?¡± I did what any man faced with a petite girl who has asked you a question while backed by a beast that towers over him would do. I nodded in agreement. Chapter 3 I had an odd dream that night. I was making armor. But the armor seemed to explode every time I made it. And as I did so, a knife came closer and closer to my neck. The knife didn¡¯t scare me as much as the bright blue circle in the distance. It wasn¡¯t a nightmare, just very odd. What truly scared me was when I woke up to see the face of Mountain the dog smiling happily at me from the right side of the bed ¡°Planes of existence!¡± I fell off the bed. 115 kilograms of half-orc slamming into the floor made a noise that echoed for a moment. As I lay there, Mountain strode around the bed to look down at me. I stared up at him, my tusks pulling at my lips as I tried to figure out what had just happened. ¡°What,¡± I asked at last, ¡°were you deciding if I was worth eating or not?¡± I found myself gaping in shock when Mountain shook his head from side to side. ¡°D-Did you just¡ª?¡± I shook my ownhead, trying to shake off the bleariness. ¡°You understand me?¡± Mountain barked happily. ¡°¡­Sapient dogs,¡± I mused, trying to understand when my life had become so strange. The door opened. I poked my head up from the floor to see around Mountain, and he turned his head to look. ¡°Char!¡± Katya popped her head inside. ¡°Are you ready? We¡¯re headed back to your shop! The carriage and the guards are ready!¡± I stared at her, calmly getting my thoughts back together with all the madness of the last minute. ¡°...Guards?¡± ------ Arthur and I watched as Richard spoke to a group of guards, his face stern. ¡°So¡­ you aren¡¯t dying then?¡± Arthur asked me in shock. ¡°I want two men on that rooftop with bows,¡± Richard declared. ¡°Be ready to stop anyone who tries to attack from the back alleys. Six more block off that alley, keep the shop as isolated as possible.¡± ¡°Not today,¡± I sighed. ¡°Though I¡¯m not so sure this is much better.¡± The neighbors were staring from windows and shops as armored guards cordoned off the area, all in the name of the Prophesied Child¡¯s safety. It was the most attention our street had every gotten. It didn¡¯t help that Mountain had come along, as massive as ever, doggy tongue panting as he looked around. Richard stood tall, watching as the guards walked into their positions, then came over to us. ¡°I¡¯ll need to go into your home,¡± said Richard as he rested his palm against his sword. ¡°I need to make sure it¡¯s safe. A guide to show me every inch of the house would be good as well.¡± Arthur quirked his eyebrow, looking at me. I shrugged. What was I supposed to say, no? Apparently we were taking care of celebrity. Taking my shrug as agreement, Arthur waved Richard in. The knight nodded, and entered with Arthur following. I watched them enter, then walked over to the carriage in front of the house. It was massive, covered in thick steel plates, more like a large metal boulder on wheels than a carriage. A guard eyed me carefully as I strode up. In the window of the carriage was a cloth drape blocking viewers from looking within. As I came up however, I noticed a pair of eyes looking at me from the corner of the window. ¡°I¡¯d like to speak with her please,¡± I said to one of the guards around the carriage. The guard I spoke to scowled. ¡°Let him in!¡± a cheery voice called. He scowled harder, but nodded for me to pass. When I stepped into the carriage, Katya was there, dressed in simple armor once more. ¡°Hey, Char!¡± she said cheerily. ¡°Are we almost done?¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t know,¡± I admitted. ¡°I¡¯m not an expert on security measures. Richard is in the house now.¡± ¡°Oh, okay,¡± She looked outside again, eyes wide. ¡°This is all so strange.¡± ¡°Does it happen everytime you go outside?¡± ¡°Not at the Chapel. But this is only the second time I¡¯ve been outside of it. Yesterday was the first time.¡± I couldn¡¯t help my surprise at that. Even I, with my orc genetics, apparently had more freedom than the Prophesied Child. Odd to think of things that way. Here she was, famed throughout the world. The most beloved person in the city. We couldn¡¯t be more opposite. But I felt no envy, no jealousy. ¡°Well¡­ would you like me to tell you about anything?¡± I rubbed the back of my neck as she looked over to me. ¡°I mean, I can answer any questions you have?¡± ¡°Oh!¡± she smiled brightly. I don¡¯t think she knew any other way to smile. ¡°Yes, I¡¯d like that! Can you tell me about that?¡± She pointed outside. I leaned over to see what she looking at, then winced. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ a trash bin.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ it¡¯s very big. What about that?¡± ¡°The bakers shop. Today he¡¯s out, but I know his son will be working there. They don¡¯t like me much, but they would be happy to get you something I think.¡± ¡°Really? Oh, and what about that store?¡± ¡°General goods. They sell a little bit of everything. I go there sometimes when I want something for my experiments and can¡¯t walk to the docks.¡± ¡°Why would you go to the docks?¡± she asked. ¡°Well, everything one could want is there. Thanks to the fact it¡¯s next to both the river and the sea, lots of trade goods end up there. Objects from the Eastern Continents, like spices, animals, and so on, can be found there for good prices. And the workers there will always accept a hand or two with the heavy lifting, so I can usually get a little bit of coin there as well.¡± ¡°You think I could work there to?¡± For a moment I considered the idea of the big and burly dockworkers accepting the aid of the tiny girl that was the future savior of the world with the heavy, sweaty, and dirty work of loading and unloading goods. ¡°¡­¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°All clear!¡± came Richard¡¯s voice, saving me from an explanation. A moment later he opened the carriage door. He quirked an eye at the sight of me sitting there, before looking at Katya. ¡°My lady. You may enter the,¡± he flickered his eyes to me, ¡°the domicile.¡± I hid a small smirk. ¡°Okay!¡± she hopped out of the carriage, crossing over to my house. I went to follow her, when Richard stopped me with a raised hand. He watched her enter, then looked over at me. ¡°I have checked your records,¡± said Richard in a low, dangerous tone, ¡°so I know you have yet to show any violence that wasn¡¯t done in self-defense. Nonetheless, I give you a warning orcling. I¡¯ve killed hundreds of pure blooded orcs,¡± he tapped the hilt of his blade. ¡°I¡¯ve soaked my steel in the blood of warriors, shamans, and demon-worshippers. And if you do anything to harm my charge, I will add a blacksmith to that list.¡± We stared at each other for a moment. Then, with deliberate slowness, I reached for his hand on my chest, removing it. He let me push it away, still looking at me. ¡°I won¡¯t hurt her, or anyone, who doesn¡¯t hurt me first,¡± I didn¡¯t hold back my voice. When it came out, it was with the low, growling tones that were the gift of my orcish blood. The guards around us stepped back, fear etched on their faces. Richard simply narrowed his eyes. ¡°I am a blacksmith. Before I am half-human, before I am half-orc, I am a blacksmith. I will do my job, and I will do it well. That is a promise.¡± I stepped around him, walking towards my home. The sound of Richard¡¯s footsteps followed, as I felt his eyes on my back. ------ Moments later we stood in the shop. I was measuring Katya, carefully noting down each number as I went. Arthur watched from his seat on one of the anvils as Richard prowled the room, watching me carefully. Katya was watching the measurements I was doing with curiosity tinged with boredom. ¡°Raise your arms,¡± Katya lifted them from her sides, letting me wrap my measuring tape around her waist. Moving quickly, I measure her hips and chest as well. It is critical when making armor that your measurements are as perfect as possible. In battle, the last thing a warrior wants is for their armor to suddenly pinch or pull while they are in the midst of pitched combat. Still, as I brought the tape to wrap around Katya¡¯s chest, I could feel Richard¡¯s gaze harden. I made sure my measurement was good, then quickly removed the tape to note it down. ¡°Richard,¡± Katya said as I finished writing. ¡°My lady?¡± ¡°Char said there was a baking shop that sold pastries here. Can you get me one?¡± ¡°At once!¡± Richard clapped an armored gauntlet to his chest and bowed, before leaving the room. It was quiet for a bit. I took the measurement of her arms, separating the measurements for her hands, forearms, and upper arms. ¡°I¡¯m sorry about him,¡± Katya said softly. ¡°Hmm?¡± I looked down at her. She was biting her lip, peeking up at me shyly. ¡°He¡­ he¡¯s just overprotective. A few assassins have tried to kill me over the years. And he worries.¡± Assassins? That was horrifying to contemplate. ¡°I don¡¯t mind so much,¡± I said, though I was actually relieved he was gone, as his gaze had been very distracting. ¡°I¡¯m glad you wanted that pastry though.¡± ¡°I¡¯m actually not that hungry.¡± ¡°Then why,¡± I stopped when I noticed the mischievous glee in her eyes, ¡°you mean you wanted him to leave?¡± Arthur barked out a laugh. Katya¡¯s smile widened slightly, and I couldn¡¯t help my own smile. A few minutes later I¡¯d finished the measurements, double-checking them several times. Once I was sure I was done, it was time for the next part of the process. I started flipping through a book of various designs, trying to decide what would be best for my new client. ¡°So¡­ do you have a favorite food?¡± It took me a moment to realize the question was directed at me. I looked up, confused. Katya continued to stare at me earnestly. ¡°Um¡­ sandwiches, I suppose. Or noodles with tomato sauce and meat.¡± ¡°On, I haven¡¯t tried that,¡± she said thoughtfully. ¡°It¡¯s pretty good.¡± Thinking that we were done, I went back to the designs. Nothing I¡¯d choose would be final, but having a basic starting idea would¡ª ¡°What about books? Can you read?¡± Sighing slightly, I looked back up at her. ¡°Yes, I can. I don¡¯t really have a favorite one, there are too many to choose from. Now, let me finish real quick. Please?¡± ¡°Oh, sorry!¡± She lifted her hands placitingly. I nodded, then flipped the page. Where was I? Right, I¡¯d need to design the armor for her small size. Easy enough. But it would need a few embellishments to reference her role as the Prophesied Child. Maybe a few passages from the Chapel of Valor¡¯s holy texts? If I could¡ª ¡°What are you doing?¡± I snorted in shock when I realized she¡¯d somehow snuck up on me. She was looking over my shoulder curiously, reading my notes. After a moment she looked over at me, then back at the book. ¡°I¡­¡± I hesitated, then decided I¡¯d just have to flow with the situation. Most clients never hung around the shop. This was the first time I¡¯d had one sit and speak with me, so I was adjusting. ¡°I¡¯m deciding on how I want the basic design for your armor to go,¡± I flipped the page, showing diagrams of gauntlets. ¡°I¡¯d like it to fit with your fighting style, but the aesthetics have to fit with your future role. I can¡¯t simply engrave skulls on the shoulders for example.¡± ¡°Ew,¡± she stuck her tongue out cutely. ¡°Exactly. It needs show people who you are, while allowing you to fight with your full potential,¡± I pointed at one of the gauntlets, which had clawed fingers. ¡°This one, for example, is a good design for someone trying to represent a predatory aesthetic. Things like spikes do the same thing. But for you, I think something from the Chapel¡¯s texts engraved on different parts of your armor would be good.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± she nodded. ¡°Sounds complicated. How long did it take you to learn all this?¡± ¡°I¡¯m still learning, right Arthur?¡± we turned to look at my adopted father. He was watching us huddle over my notebook with an odd smile on his face, and nodded when I looked over at him. ¡°Hasha, my teacher, likes to say that a person should always try to learn one new thing a day at the least. And that you should only stop when there is nothing more to learn.¡± ¡°What¡¯s he like?¡± she asked. ¡°Hasha?¡± I thought about that. ¡°Well, he¡¯s great. He and Arthur taught me about magic and blacksmithing. He¡¯s a good teacher.¡± ¡°I see,¡± she took my notebook in gentle hands. ¡°I wish I learned about this. My teachers only taught me about fighting, the words of the text, and how to use the Light.¡± ¡°The Light?¡± I blinked as I watched her read my note. ¡°You¡¯re a paladin?¡± ¡°Oh yeah!¡± she gave me the notebook and smiled brightly. ¡°I can show you later if you want?¡± ¡°Uh, sure,¡± I scratched my chin. ¡°Does every paladin of the Chapel get the same training?¡± He smile fell away. ¡°¡­I don¡¯t know,¡± She raised her left hand to rub her right upper arm. ¡°I was always the only person learning in those classes. The only people who really spent time with me besides my teachers are Richard and Mountain. I mean, I spar with the other knights but they never fight me seriously. ¡®The Prophesied Child¡¯ must be protected. So I never had any real people to talk about this stuff with.¡± Surprise filled me. That was the first time I¡¯d heard her speak without an undercurrent of happiness in her voice. It sounded¡­ wrong. Sad. ¡°Well, I suppose you have me now,¡± I think I was more surprised than she was when I spoke. Still, her bright smile told me I¡¯d said the right thing. Still, I tried to joke. ¡°I suppose if no one else is willing, a half-orc with a bad attitude will do?¡± She smiled at that. ¡°Anyways, I think I¡¯ll need to see how you fight,¡± I wrote a small annotation in my notebook. ¡°I¡¯ll bring a few of my things with me, my instruments and such. I can meet you in the carriage. Arthur, you want to come?¡± The skinny blacksmith chuckled. ¡°No, this is your baby, Char. I think I¡¯ll watch and see how you do.¡± ¡°Are you sure?¡± I asked in surprise. It wasn¡¯t that he was stern or untrusting, but he tended to keep a close eye on my projects while I worked. ¡°You¡¯ll do fine,¡± he waved me off. ¡°I¡¯ll head to the pub and throw back a few pints.¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± Katya gasped in shock. ¡°But drinking is forbidden in the sight of the Light!¡± Arthur and I stopped to stare at her. Then we looked at each other, unsure how to handle this. ¡°¡­I¡¯ll drink in shadows?¡± Arthur tried. Katya puffed up her cheeks and placed her hands on her hips. ¡°¡­I suppose I¡¯ll just settle with water,¡± I¡¯d never heard Arthur so close to tears in my life. ¡°Good!¡± Katya gave Arthur a proud smile, then left the room. ¡°¡­You know that she won¡¯t appear as soon as you drink a pint. You can still drink.¡± ¡°She¡¯s the damn Prophesied Child,¡± Arthur grumbled. ¡°And she just told me not to drink. Light save me.¡± ¡°Well, isn¡¯t this the Light trying to save you?¡± I smirked at the dark look he gave me. He turned to leave, grumbling. ¡°Bratty kids¡­ giant dogs¡­ all I wanted to do was blacksmith¡­¡± ------ When I came up to the Chapel in a carriage for the second time, it was with far less tension than the first time. For one thing, I was no longer under arrest, instead riding freely next to Katya in the carriage, with a pair of guards across from us to make sure she was safe. For another, I got to see a lot more of the Chapel. As it turned out, even the massive castle was barely scratching the surface of how big the land given to the religious sect truly was. We went around the castle through a tunnel that went underground before rising again. On the other side of the tunnel was a lake. An enormous lake surrounded by grass, and more open space than I¡¯d ever seen in my life. After living all my life in a city, the change was significant. The familiar scents of citylife were replaced with the clear water of the lake, of grass and fresh dirt. While the lake was the centerpiece of it all, there was much more. Buildings dotted the area around us. I could see guard towers made of wood surrounding the lake. Great castles and mansions. An island in the middle of the lake, made of what looked like light brown earth, had a small castle and a set of barracks. And open space. More than I¡¯d ever seen, just enormous amounts of unused land separating magnificent castles, sturdy square buildings, and¡­ ¡°Is that a forest?¡± Katya nodded happily. ¡°Yes! Isn¡¯t it nice?¡± Nice nothing. This was¡­ impossible. Full grown castles were an expense beyond counting. And I could see five, including the one behind me! Hadn¡¯t I felt sorry for the Prophesied Child? For being forced to live only in the Chapel? When this was her home? I pushed down my envy with the ease of long practice. ¡°You live here?¡± ¡°Oh, no,¡± she shook her head firmly. ¡°I¡¯m only allowed out for thirty minutes a day, or when training. The rest of the time I live in the main castle.¡± My envy eased, and I felt guilty for that. How terrible a person am I, that her life of imprisonment made me feel better about my own life? I resolved once more to make her the best armor I could, Maybe then I would feel better about my envy. ¡°So, you need to see me fight, right?¡± Katya asked. She seemed less bashful now that we were on her territory. ¡°Yes,¡± I answered her, trying to ignore the beautiful view outside the windows. ¡°I need to see how you move, how you use your sword, and so on. While the armor itself can be standard in design, I must understand how you comport yourself in battle in order to prepare the runes I¡¯ll using.¡± The guards seemed startled when they heard me speak. I have no idea why. Katya simply nodded, then leaned her head out the window. ¡°Richard!¡± I heard hoofbeats come closer, then saw the dour face of Richard. Mountain was striding somewhere behind him, furred form easily keeping pace with the trotting horses. ¡°My lady?¡± ¡°We can set up a fight for Char to see me in battle, right?¡± Katya said with a lot more eagerness than I would have expected from such a sweet person. ¡°I¡¯ve already sent word ahead my lady,¡± He smiled fondly at her. ¡°I dare say you¡¯ll be able to knock a bit of humility into a few of the boys soon enough.¡± ¡°Poor bastards,¡± one of the guards whispered just out of earshot of the Prophesied Child. ------ We headed towards the island in the center of the lake, which had a stone bridge large enough for our group to cross with ease going to it. The castle on the island was really more of a small manor, and rather less ostentatious than the main castle. If the main castle was a gilded knight, then this smaller one, with grey stone and metal gates, was a battle-scarred soldier. Next to the castle were stables, a low set of wooden building, and a small clearing surrounded by a low fence where five knights stood waiting, all dressed in full armor, carrying various weapons, and wearing helmets that hid their features. The carriage stopped in front of that clearing, and Katya happily hopped out of the carriage. Richard got off his horse and nodded to a man standing by with a dull steel training sword. The man, who was a little older than me, stepped forward and held out the hilt of the beat up longsword as though he was bequeathing a crown. ¡°Thank you,¡± Katya took the blade by the hilt with an eager grin, turning to look at the five knights waiting in the clearing. I blinked at the change that came over her. The sweet young girl seemed to fade away. Instead, she suddenly have a happy, yet vicious smile on her face. Her entire body seemed to shift with energy. She slowly walked towards the five knights in the clearing. Her hand flipped the sword into a twirling pattern. ¡°You ever see a paladin fight orcling?¡± Richard asked as Mountain walked over to join us, sitting on his haunches. ¡°Hmm?¡± I looked at Richard. He smirked at me. ¡°Uh, no. I haven¡¯t had the uh, the pleasure.¡± ¡°Well, then I suppose this will be quite the experience for you,¡± he leaned against the wooden fence surrounding the clearing. Mountain came on my other side, pnating joyously. Katya giggled as the five men began to circle her. Then, she leaped forward, towards a knight on her right. The man carried a large shield and a mace, and he swung it the instant she came close. I cried out when she did nothing to block the attack, only rushing towards him. A blaze of Light surrounded her at the exact moment she was going to be hit. It solidified into a field around her body, forcing the mace back. ¡°Ha!¡± Katya cried. In a fluid motion, she moved into his guard. Her blade slammed into his right hand, forcing him to drop the mace, then smacked his helmeted head with the flat of the blade. A loud ringing filled the air. She didn¡¯t stop, still moving with that blazing speed to press a hand to his chest. An explosion of Light magic came from her palm, sending the heavily armored knight flying like a leaf on the wind. As he rolled on the ground to a stop, his brother knights confronted Katya. She giggled once more as the two swung claymore at her, her eyes bright with joy. She leaped over blow, ducked, twisted, and danced with incredible speed. Bursts of illumination followed her motions, and for a moment I tried to understand why. Then I realized she was boosting her speed by using magic to push her in concentrated bursts. It was subtle, but her constant use of it made it clear what was happening. Using this, she was using it with her already prodigious speed to simply dance around the two knights claymores. Soon she started fighting back. She released a brief amount of Light magic from all over her body, sending the two men back a step. The other two, had been forced to maneuver around their brethren, stepped around to attack her, on with a long spear, the other with a longsword of his own. She stepped around the spear in a flash of Light, then grabbed it and moved it to block the longsword. The spear knight, on seeing she had his spear, lashed out with a fist. She ducked and snapped her hand out. Light came out in the form of a rope, wrapping around the spear knights ankle. She tugged him off his feet, then turned to engage the longsword knight. Physical manifestation of magic? How powerful was she? Even as I stared, I started writing notes. She obviously had a preference for speed and agility in combat, using that do defend herself along with her magic. Runes to lighten the weight of armor would be good. As I watched, she used her magic less, conserving it. Signs of needing to conserve energy? Maybe I could use one of the runes of magic regen that Hasha used in his robes, help her get some of that lost energy back over time? Or create a battery of sorts? I¡¯d need to research, see how Light magic responded to my runes. Maybe I could even boost her magical strength as well? Even as I continued to think, Katya was still fighting. Even without magic, she was clearly a well traied duelist, and she took on the longsword knight with incredible speed, their blades slamming into each other to a rhythm only they could understand. Until finally, Katya outpaced him. With a parry, she stepped forward and slammed the pommel of her blade into the forehead of his helmet. He staggered back, shouting in pain. She punched his chest, and a burst of Light sent him flying. The last two knights, the claymore ones, rushed her. As they swung their massive blades, she turned to giggle one more, her eyes alight once more. ¡°Watch this, Char!¡± Then she was blazing once more with Light. She disappeared, then reappeared right next to the rightmost claymore knight. A sickening crack filled the air before he fell back, a dent in his chestplate where she¡¯d slammed the tip of her blade into the hardened armor.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. I winced. Even with padding, that would cause quite the bruise. Mountain barked again, seemingly delighted at the sight of his master winning. The other knight roared, swinging his blade around at her chest. She flipped in the air, allowing the blade to swing beneath her, and landed on his shoulders in an incredible display of agility, sitting down with her legs wrapped around his head. With brutality I never expected of her, she slammed her metal encased elbows into his head over and over, moving so quickly the air whistled. She hopped off of him, flipping back to look at him. The poor knight took a single step forward. Then he fell over. ¡°Woohoo!¡± Katya cheered, lifting a fist in the air. ¡°That was fun!¡± I stared, my writing having stilled for a moment. Mountain growled happily, then barked, his loud volume shaking the air and bringing me back to reality. Fun. Right. That had been one of the most brutal things I¡¯d ever seen. The image of a dwarf getting his head slammed into a wall filled my mind. Second most brutal thing then. She turned to look at us, waving happily. ¡°Hey! How¡¯d I do!?¡± Richard smirked. ¡°Almost perfectly, my lady.¡± ¡°Almost?¡± she looked crestfallen. ¡°Yes,¡± he pointed at a spot behind her shoulder. ¡°You missed one.¡± The flat of a blade tapped gently on the side of her head from behind her. She turned to see the spear knight, the one that she¡¯d pulled off his feet with the Light rope holding a spear to her face. He tapped her with the spear again, then lifted a hand to his helmet. He removed the helmet and placed his spear on the ground. ¡°Should have finished me off little one,¡± A grizzled old face with dark skin and wrinkles gazed at her, smiling just a bit. ¡°Then I wouldn¡¯t be able to backstab you.¡± ¡°Backstab?¡± Katya frowned disapprovingly. ¡°That¡¯s not honorable.¡± ¡°Honor is how we fight, Lady Katya,¡± the older man rested his spear against his shoulder. ¡°We take our enemies head on, crush them with overwhelming force. But our enemies, and even our allies, have no need for honor. If they could, they would kill you in your sleep. Fight with honor. But when you defeat your opponent? Crush them.¡± Katya nodded, smiling as happily as though he¡¯d given her a new toy. ¡°Yes Father Maxwell!¡± I blinked. ¡°That man is a priest?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Richard hopped over the fence with the spryness of of younger man. ¡°We just have a much more proactive view of prayers.¡± ¡°¡­You are a priest?¡± Mountain barked happily. Richard chuckled lightly, striding over to Katya. I quickly stashed away my notebook and hopped over the fence as well. Even in armor, I was still larger and heavier than Richard, the wooden posts groaned as I leapt it. It held however, and I walked over to join Katya. She turned a smile to me before the old knight stepped in between us. He glowered at me, and I slowed my walk. Despite being bigger than him, he was very intimidating. Especially considering the spear he was carrying. ¡°You are Char.¡± It wasn¡¯t a question. ¡°Yes,¡± I kept my tone level. ¡°Hn,¡± he nodded over his shoulder at Katya. ¡°She seems to trust ya. More than our armorers here anyways. You made a lot of folk mad boy, calling out their craftsmanship like that.¡± I stared down at him for moment. ¡°¡­I wouldn¡¯t have called them out, if they had done their jobs. If she¡¯d gone into battle in her last armor, she would have been the instant she fought someone who knew what they were doing. She¡¯s a good person. I have no problem taking a bit of hatred if it ends up saving her life.¡± He searched my face as I glared seriously at him. After a moment he chuckled. ¡°I think I like ya boy. Richard over there doesn¡¯t. But I do. Any man who speaks his mind even while terrified is a good one by me.¡± Damn. I¡¯d been trying to hide my fear. But the longer I spent time around men with swords glaring at me when Katya wasn¡¯t looking, the more scared and angry I became. ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± he patted me on the shoulder, having to reach up a bit. ¡°Just crack some heads later. That¡¯ll get their respect.¡± Wondering if he was crazy, I let myself be guided over to Richard and Katya. Richard poked her hip as we came up, and she winced in pain. ¡°As I thought,¡± he said firmly. ¡°You let a claymore get you.¡± She had? Damn, they were faster than I¡¯d thought. Maybe I should make something for my helm to allow me to see things at a faster rate of perception, so I could see a move like that later? Of course, the chances I¡¯d ever need something that for battle wasn¡¯t high, but it might let me see the movement of other things at a slower rate-of-motion, and help me perceive such things with greater clarity, which might be invaluable for research. ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± Katya complained. ¡°You need healing,¡± Richard chided. ¡°I¡¯ll take you to a medic.¡± ¡°Aww,¡± she pouted. Richard turned to me. ¡°You can stay here. I¡¯ll come back in a bit. I assume you have notes to do?¡± I nodded. ¡°Right. There¡¯s a table in the stables you can use I think.¡± ¡°Thank you,¡± I watched the pair walk off, Katya acting like a petulant child towards her father, Mountain panting happily, and Richard chiding her as they went. A contingent of guards followed her, leaving me with the apparent priest. ¡°Well, I¡¯ll head out as well,¡± Father Maxwell rested his spear on his shoulders, arms lying across the length of it. ¡°Need a drink I think. Girl always hits so damn hard.¡± ¡°Priests can drink?¡± ¡°Depends on the priest,¡± I watched him walk off, then left to the stables. With no one around but the other guards, I felt more relaxed. The stables were very open, with only a few horses, a large bear, and a massive goat in the stables. All the animals looked like they were built for war, with rippling muscles and hard eyes. The goat and the bear must have been gifts from some dwarf¡¯s. Those were their most popular mounts after all, next to the large earthdigging moles they¡¯d bred. I found the table and sat down. The first step was figuring out her needs. The basics were simple, such as armor strengthening, and enhancements to lighten weight or resist certain attacks, but what was important? She was to be the hero of the land after all. More than that, she¡¯d been nice to me. So I needed to make armor to match her. I¡¯d need a closer look at that Light magic of hers. Maybe, I could help her channel it into runes. She apparently had amazing control over it. What if we could take that further? Make it so she could depend further on that ability. But wait, would that be seen as some form of religious sacrilege? Damn, I¡¯d need to read up on the Chapel of Valor¡¯s laws as well. This armor was representing them as well, and I wanted to respect their religious practices, even if I wasn¡¯t a believer. So now that I knew what she could do, it was time to figure out how to further boost her abilities, and possibly give her new ones as well. I made several more annotations to my notes, then flipped through the pages of my notebook. Now, obviously I¡¯d use mannaz¡­ but then I wanted the armor to be a fluid piece. Lets see, maybe if¡ª A hand reached out and took my notebook away. I blinked dumbly, trying to understand what just happened. Then I looked up. Four knights, all wearing the tabards of the Chapel of Valor, but blue rather than the black I¡¯d gotten used to. They also seemed younger than the group Katya had fought, with less of a surety about themselves. One was standing directly in front of me, holding my notebook. He was what Jennifer would have called a ¡®pretty boy¡¯. He had bright green eyes, tousled black hair, and was smiling brilliantly. Arthur would have said he had a weak chin. He flipped my notebook to look at it. ¡°Well, well. So you really can read,¡± he chuckled, giving me that smile again. ¡°I¡¯d heard, but I didn¡¯t really believe it. Who taught you, orcling?¡± I frowned at him. ¡°My teacher. May I have my notebook back please? I¡¯m deciding on the armor I¡¯m designing for Katy¡ª¡­for the Prophesied Child.¡± ¡°Oh, of course!¡± To my surprise, he actually handed it back. I took it in my hands, and slowly pulled it away as he smiled nicely. I put the notebook down and pressed my¡ª ¡°What is that?¡± Annoyed at the interruption, I looked up at him, then down at the object in my hand. ¡°¡­It¡¯s graphite wrapped by wood. I use it to write.¡± ¡°Really now? Where did you get such a thing?¡± I sighed. For some reason, I found this person far more annoying than Katya, whose questions had only bother me for a moment. With this man, I could feel my patience wearing thin. ¡°I got it from my teacher. He has a friend who got him a small supply that she invented, and she sends him small boxes every now and then. Now please, I just want to work.¡± His eyes seemed to flash. ¡°Oh, feeling temperamental are we?¡± I sighed. As annoying as he was, I supposed there was no need to snap at him. ¡°My apologies, I simply¡ª¡± ¡°Oh no, no. no,¡± he chuckled a bit. ¡°I understand. Feeling a bit frustrated? Like you need to take it out on someone?¡± ¡°What?¡± I frowned. Realization quickly dawned. Still, I tried to salvage the situation. ¡°No, I just want to work.¡± ¡°Noooo,¡± the handsome knight laughed. His friends did so as well, the three of them unable to keep from making the sound somehow ugly. ¡°See, I understand your frustration,¡± He patted my hand. I pulled it back hurriedly, and his smile widened. ¡°You must want to fight for a bit, yes? A good bout in the ring, get that anger off your chest?¡± I frowned at him. He only chuckled cheerily. ¡°How about it orcling!? A quick spar, you and I!¡± As he said this, I looked outside. All of the guards were gone. The only ones here were the animals. In the literal and metaphorical sense. I looked back at the young man. ¡°No thank you.¡± He pouted mockingly. ¡°Aw, are you sure? Isn¡¯t that a shame boys? He doesn¡¯t want to play.¡± ¡°Mean of him,¡± one said, with far less charm than his leader. Though to be fair, his helmet did muffle his voice. ¡°Come on orcling. Just one match.¡± ¡°Yeah!¡± another said with a laugh. ¡°Tell you what, you don¡¯t even have to use a sword! No need to worry about you accidently cutting yourself! Keep things nice and safe.¡± I narrowed my eyes. ¡°And you?¡± ¡°Oh, I¡¯ll be using my sword,¡± the leader chuckled again. He seemed to like doing that. ¡°I¡¯m trained, so don¡¯t worry. I know how to use this safetly.¡± As he patted the sword at his side, I frowned. ¡°Why are you doing this?¡± For the first time, the handsome man stopped smiling. He gave me an almost sad smile. ¡°¡­Does it matter?¡± ¡°¡­I suppose it doesn¡¯t,¡± I said softly. It was true. The reason for it didn¡¯t matter too much at the moment. For whatever reason, they wanted me to fight their leader. The reasons for it could wait. For now, I had to deal with the situation. Four armored knights, all armed with blades, and all trained. Even with my strength, I wasn¡¯t invulnerable to pointed steel. But one on one? Maybe I stood a chance. I slowly put my notebook away in my satchel. Then I rose up. ¡°¡­Light,¡± one of them said in awe. I had towered over the all. Hunched over the small table, writing in my notebook, they must not have comprehended how big I was. Now, they could see me for my full size. Feeling a bit more confident. I strode forward. The leader, his face growing more serious, turned to lead the way. His friends surrounded me, as though to keep me from running. I considered that. Even with my size, I was faster than most thanks to Hasha¡¯s physical training regimen, though I¡¯d fallen behind in that a bit. But I discarded the idea. If they were truly trained, a single sword jammed into my chest would do the job of killing me. Better to fight. The leader took a position in the clearing. His friends stood around us, leaving plenty of room for me and him. ¡°No weapons or armor at all?¡± The man smiled smarmily. ¡°Where would we find armor to fit one of your¡­ girth? And as I said, I worry for your safety, orcling! We wouldn¡¯t want you to hurt yourself.¡± I found myself oddly offended at the first remark. My girth was fine, if you asked me. ¡°Now, bow!¡± he did so. When I didn¡¯t, he pouted once more. ¡°Now orcling, if you don¡¯t follow the rules¡ª¡± Right, that was about enough of that. ¡°My name,¡± he stopped, eyes widening at the sound of my voice growling outward, ¡°is Char. Not orcling. We both know what this is. Let¡¯s get on with it.¡± The leader and his three knights looked at each other. Then, he shrugged. Just like that, he was leaping towards me, sword swinging at me. My first thought was that Katya was a much better fighter. There was a grace to her, an incredible adaptability to her fighting style. His was far less trained, despite being (presumably) older than her. My second thought was to bemoan how little that mattered. If she was better than him, he absolutely towered over me. I blocked his blade with my arms, forced to let the sword slice into my right forearm rather than my face and chest. Pain blossomed at the same time as blood, and I tried to pull back, to get some room. He came forward in steps, stabbing at my chest with horrifying speed. Eyes widening, I twisted out of the way, but still sustained a cut to my stomach as when he turned the thrust into a slice. I was momentarily thrown back to the alley where the three men had attacked me. I was scared. And I was also getting angry. Roaring, I lashed out with a fist. He ducked the blow, and stepped into kick at my knee. My leg crumbled under the blow. I fell, and tried to hit him again. He hopped back, letting my fist slip past him, then stepped in to slice at my shoulder. I roared again, and rolled away, pain blossoming in my wounds as dust slipped into them. The handsome, face grim, sliced at me again, forcing me to block with my left arm. When I roared this time, I could feel the air shake. He stepped back in shock, letting me rise up. I rushed at him. He raised his sword and stabbed it deep into my other shoulder. I screamed now, but still grabbed him by his face and started to squeeze. A red haze was filling my eyes. Rage, fear, and hate filled me. Panicking as I squeezed his skull, he pulled his sword out of my shoulder with liquid sound, then slammed it into my chest. I roared in pain, pushing him back. Staggering, roaring, and clutching at the wounds, I pressed my back against the fence behind me. I roared again, trying to scare him back. He smiled, as cheerily as he had from the start. His friends watched on in silence. ¡°I really am sorry about this, orcling.¡± He chuckled. ¡°But an orc, half or otherwise, hanging around the Prophesied Child? This simply won¡¯t do.¡± He raised his sword up high. ¡°Goodbye orcling.¡± ¡­Orcling. He was going to kill me. And he wasn¡¯t even going to remember my name. That galvanized me. I was a person damnit. Not just a half-orc, to be killed for existing, for being in the way. And damned if I was going to die to this damn pretty boy, weak chinned, knight. I grabbed the fence post behind me. It was stuck deep in the ground. It was sturdy, well-chosen wood. It had to be, if it was to survive whatever was going to be thrown at it. Wrapping my fingers around it, I pulled upwards in a sudden explosive movement. I swung outwards as I roared louder than I ever had in my life. I¡¯d always held back my strength on some level, never giving it my all. Now, with my life on the line, I swung that wooden post with every bit of energy I had. The handsome man¡¯s eyes widened when dirt and wood snapped behind me. He tried to block the wood. But physics was against him. A piece of wood as thick as my leg, swung with my strength, and moving at speed. His sword was pushed aside, and the wood slammed into his arm. He screamed as his armor dented inwards. Now fully enraged, I stepped forwards and swung again. He sliced at my thigh, laying a deep cut there, but I ignored it to smack him in the chest. Even in my rage, some part of me was still able to hold on enough to guide my movements. When he staggered back, eyes full of fear, and tried to stab me again, I aimed the post at his dominant hand. The sound of bones cracking filled the air. ¡°AAAUGH!¡± he fell to his knees, tears in his eyes. ¡°No, Light no!¡± I hesitated. Even in my rage, I didn¡¯t want to kill him. ¡°Get him!¡± One of his friends cried. He leaped at me, slashing at my throat. Instinctively, I swung the makeshift club at his chest. His armor dented inwards. I think he tried to scream, but the armor pressing in on his lungs prevented that. As he fell back, scrambling at his chestplate, pain at my back nearly staggered me. I fell to a knee, and reached out a desperate hand. A squawk followed my hand grabbing a tabard. I pulled, hard, bringing the knight to the ground before me. Forgoing the wooden post, I instead punched the man in his face. My knuckles met a solid metal helm, and I grimaced at the pain as a ringing sound filled the air. Another burst of pain in my back told me the last knight was stabbing me again. The one on the ground punched me in the face, his steel gauntlets breaking the skin and pouring blood into my eyes. Somewhere in my mind, even with the blood blinding me, I managed to keep my intelligence. When I wiped away another I noticed a crack in the armor of the man I had pressed to the ground as I knelt. A long mark where a smith had repaired it. But they¡¯d botched the job. Raising the post high, I slammed it into his armor, right on the crack. The armor shattered along the small crack. When I hit him again, his eyes widened behind his helm, then closed. I swung a fist out at the last knight. Like his leader, he stepped back to avoid the attack, then stabbed me in the same shoulder his leader had sliced open first. I lost all control then. I swung the post, sweeping his feet out from under him. I raised the post high, ready to kill him, to end the threat¡ª ¡°What in hell!?¡± I looked up. Richard was rushing towards us. ¡°What happened here!?¡± I stared at him, uncomprehending. Then I realized what I¡¯d been ready to do. Sickened, I dropped the post. The man I¡¯d been ready to kill stared up at me, eyes fearful. ¡°H¡­He was going to kill me!¡± Richard hopped over the fence, spitting to the side as he came. ¡°I saw it all,¡± I stiffened, opened my mouth to defend myself. ¡°Four knights, fighting an unarmed man! What in the Light were you thinking!? You damn fools! I¡¯ll have you in stocks!¡± The man on the ground stared in shock, then looked around. His leader was staring at the proceedings, still cradling his hand as he cried. The other two men had passed out. ¡°Look at what he did to us!¡± Richard scoffed. ¡°Of the people here, who is soaked in blood?¡± They looked at me. My wounds were slowly leaking now. With the threat passing, I was getting wearier by the minute. I was still on my knees, and didn¡¯t feel like getting up. ¡°Hmph,¡± Richard came forward and wrapped my right arm around his shoulders. With surprising strength, he tugged me to my feet. ¡°Go get to a medic on your own. Any of you damn fools die, do it away from the water we drink.¡± ¡°B-But sir!¡± said the leader. ¡°You tried to kill a man,¡± Richard turned his eyes towards the shocked leader. ¡°I hate orcs too. But damned if I¡¯ll kill one that hasn¡¯t tried to kill me. I have my damn honor. Now either run, or deal with the guards I¡¯ll be sending to collect you.¡± As he helped me walk, I noticed the bear in the stables staring out at me. And I couldn¡¯t help but think on the black rage that had filled me. That had saved my life even as it compelled me to take another. In the end I was right. The only ones around were the animals. ------ True to his word, the first thing Richard did when he¡¯d dragged me back to the castle was call the guards to grab the knights in the clearing. Two others took me from him, and he led them to a medic. Soon, glowing hands were pressed to my skin. The medic, a dwarven woman raised an eyebrow as she took note of the slices in my skin. She had pale white eyes, and skin and hair even darker than Father Matthew¡¯s. ¡°What happened to this one?¡± she asked Richard. ¡°Training accident,¡± he gave me a hard look when I opened my mouth. I shut it again. ¡°With what pray tell?¡± she asked. Shaking her head, she turned to a set of shelves. Taking a few bottles down, she mixed a few liquids together as I watched. When she was done, she handed me a cup full of a dark green liquid. ¡°This is¡ª¡± ¡°An antibiotic?¡± I took the glass, noting the familiar smell. ¡°My master uses something like this. But there¡¯s¡­¡± I stopped. Then I stared at her, hard. ¡°An expectorant.¡± ¡°A what?¡° Richard asked as the dwarven woman dark cheeks started to somehow pale. ¡°It¡¯s emetic,¡± he gave me an annoyed glance. ¡°It will make me throw up.¡± ¡°¡­I¡¯ll finish this up,¡± under Richard¡¯s stern eyes, she finished healing me. Hesitantly, she put another glass, this one filled with a different colored liquid, on a table next to the bed she¡¯d been taking care of me on, then rushed out. Richard watched her go, then looked at me. ¡°Did you really smell all that?¡± I scoffed. ¡°Of course not. I¡¯m still learning that. I just read the labels on the bottles.¡± ¡°Hn,¡± he grunted. ¡°Funny.¡± ¡°Her little prank or mine,¡± I grumbled. ¡°¡­A bit of both,¡± he admitted. He shrugged when I glared at him. ¡°I told you. I don¡¯t like orcs.¡± ¡°Then why help me?¡± He frowned. ¡°Katya,¡± when I quirked an eyebrow at him, he explained further. ¡°She likes you. Is starting to trust you.¡± ¡°¡­She¡¯s a good person.¡± ¡°Yeah, well¡­I¡¯m not,¡± He stared at me, blue eues searching as his craggy face twisted. ¡°Like I said, I don¡¯t like orcs. And I don¡¯t like you. You know too damn much. It¡¯s unnatural, an orc that can recognize the names of medicine with a glance. You beat four trained knights with a big stick.¡± ¡°They were trying to kill me,¡± I growled, rising slightly from the bed. ¡°I know,¡± he frowned. ¡°I don¡¯t trust you. You¡¯re unnatural. But¡­ I can respect a man who wins a fight against those kinds of odds.¡± I stopped. He shrugged. ¡°It is what it is. I¡¯ve seen too much orcling, to trust or like you. But the law is the law, and you have followed it. I saw those knights force you to fight from the windows of the castle. You only struck when struck. For that, the law says you deserve protection. So follow it, do right by Katya, and you¡¯ll have my protection, should you need it.¡± ¡°¡­Thank you.¡± He grimaced at my gruff gratitude. ¡°Light, please don¡¯t thank me. Downright unnatural you are.¡± I managed a dark chuckle at that. ¡°You might be right about that¡­ you going to tell the Prophesied Child about this?¡± He thought about that. ¡°No. She needs to focus on her coming battle in the den of monsters. If she¡¯s worried about you, then she might lose that focus.¡± For a moment, I wanted to rebel. Just for the sake of it. But I decided against it, simply nodding. Then, a question that had been burning inside me for a while came out. ¡°Why are you letting me do this?¡± he gave me a level look. ¡°There are other blacksmiths in the city. You have access to the Jarvin Tower wizards. I guarantee that both the blacksmiths and the wizards would offer up their right arms for the chance to help the Prophesied Child. So¡­ why are you letting me, a half-orc, do this, when you hate me?¡± ¡°Because Katya asked.¡± Richard declared. ¡°You¡¯re telling me that because she asked, you agreed?¡± I shook my head. ¡°Was it really so simple?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± he chuckled. ¡°You have no idea how I argued with her. I was grateful when you brought it to her attention that she had no real armor. I myself assumed it was still being made, only to discover some daft fool didn¡¯t even allow that request through. Then she asked for ¡®Char¡¯ to do the work. I fought her on that. Told her of the many experts of the kingdom who would be willing to do the job. As you noted, the commission would have no end of volunteers. Even if they weren¡¯t believers, the Chapel has more than enough coin to pay for the job.¡± He snorted. ¡°But no. Char, or nobody¡­¡± he looked thoughtful. ¡°The last thing she asked for, really asked for, was Mountain.¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t comfort me that I apparently the same as the dog.¡± He snorted again. Then he rose up. ¡°Can you walk?¡± ¡°I think so.¡± ¡°Good. Now get up,¡± he slapped me on the shoulder. I winced, only to realize my stab wound was gone. ¡°Huh. Good healer.¡± He frowned at the wound, as confused as I was at the disappearance of my wounds, before shrugging it off. ¡°Come on. I assume you have everything you need?¡± ¡°Enough to get started,¡± I rose, straightening my back. Time to get to work. ------ Hasha came by the next day. I was in the middle of drawing up the schematics for Katya¡¯s armor. She was busy training, so there were no guards or giant dog to bring attention to the little shop. And yet, his first question when he came in after Arthur let him into the workshop was, ¡°What has been happening?¡± I turned to look at him. He was dressed in his normal clothes, a simple shirt and trousers, and looking at us with curiosity. Arthur and I shared an awkward glance. ¡°Well¡­¡± Arthur coughed. ¡°Do you remember the Reveal of the Prophesied Child?¡± I said. ¡°Yeeess,¡± Hasha said slowly. ¡°I went, remember?¡± ¡°And how did that go?¡± I asked. ¡°It was a mess,¡± he answered, still looking between us. ¡°She disappeared right in the middle. She came back eventually, but all the higher ups were making a fuss over the whole debacle¡­ Why?¡± We quickly explained everything. The only part I left out was the knights that attacked me. Soon enough Hasha was sitting in a chair, contemplating our words. ¡°The dog was how big?¡± he finally asked. ¡°Taller than me,¡± I raised a hand to demonstrate. ¡°Hmm. Possible spirit origin maybe? Wait, no!¡± he shook his head furiously. ¡°Char, you need to get out of this situation! Avoid dealing with the Chapel! Hell, run away like you were planning too!¡± I was taken aback at the vehemence in his words. ¡°It isn¡¯t any fun, but I promised Katya¡ª¡± ¡°Hang promises, and hang the damn Prophesied Child!¡± He sliced the air with a hand. ¡°This is not¡ª¡± ¡°Hasha!¡± Arthur barked. The wizard stopped to look at him. Arthur glared, his eyes hard. ¡°Why don¡¯t you explain what has you acting like a witless damn coward? Speak like a rational elf you daft fool!¡± At this caustic cry, Hasha seemed to calm. He looked between us, swallowing as though he had a lump in his throat. He tried to speak, only to stop hesitantly. He sighed, and looked down at the ground. ¡°I need a drink. Do you have anything, Arthur?¡± Arthur and I shared a surprised glance. Hasha didn¡¯t drink. He prided himself on keeping complete control of his facilities at all times. For him to give that up¡­ ¡°Yeah. Yeah, I think I¡¯ve got something,¡± Arthur rose and head into the house. As his footsteps could be heard going upstairs, I opened my mouth to speak. ¡°Not yet, Char.¡± My mouth clicked shut. ¡°I-I need the drink,¡± Hasha rubbed his face. ¡°Old memories. I don¡¯t like alcohol. But it¡­ gives me an excuse, I suppose. Like a mental trigger. Helps me speak. I didn¡¯t say anything. I just stared at him. This man who had always seemed so much larger-than-life, who could twist the very fabric of the world to follow his commands, had always been so strong. And now, sitting there, all I could think about was how small he looked. Arthur returned with a small flask. He wordlessly tossed it over to Hasha, who caught it without looking. He opened it up and took a sip as Arthur sat down again. He swallowed the drink, his eyes rising up from the floor. ¡°I was an adventurer once,¡± Hasha said with a suddenness that surprised me. ¡°I don¡¯t know if I ever told you about it. I¡¯m proud of that time in my life. When other wizards were sequestering themselves in their towers, I was out in the world, studying magic and applying it to the real world. I learned more while deep in dirt and blood, or while digging through ruins, than most wizards learn from decades of texts. That¡¯s the secret to true learning, haven¡¯t I told you? To do the magic, not simply hear about. A dry text on the migration patterns of salmon is nothing compared to watching as flashes of red flow upstream in a tireless mass.¡± He took another sip. ¡°But that life wasn¡¯t all good. My travels required money. And that meant I had to work. Me and others, simple soldiers, old thieves, fellow magic users, we worked together to do whatever jobs needed doing. I spent fifty years that way. And after a while, I¡¯d explored most of Turab. Even the Orc Badlands to the south,¡± he looked up to smile at the shocked look on my face. ¡°Oh yes. It is a harsh land, full of turmoil, and darkness. And beautiful land, with great people, and landscapes. True, most of them tried to kill me and my friends. But I rather liked them.¡± He sighed. ¡°But that is a story for later.¡± I almost interrupted. I was burning with curiosity when it came to Orc Badlands. All the texts would say was stories of how horrible it was. And all this time, Hasha had been there? What was the culture like? The landscape? The people? How did they eat? Was I anything like them? I¡¯d noticed so many similarities between myself and humans. Would I find the same with orcs? Would those similarities cross species? I swallowed my tongue. However burning my curiosity, Hasha was already having a hard time speaking about this. I¡¯d have to ask at a later time. Hasha took a large swig from the flask, swallowing the alcohol. ¡°When I¡¯d finished with Turab, I looked out to the East. We¡¯d started trading in earnest with our Eastern brethren, and I was curious about the stories I¡¯d heard about them. About the different animals and people that populated it, all the different colonies that had reached it. So, I joined a fishing vessel, and headed out. It was good work, fishing. Honest labor can be good for the soul, and this was,¡± he smiled fondly. ¡°When we reached the continent, I did my usual thing. Read a few books, spoke to villagers, and simply immersed myself into the life. Once I learned the language, I began to enjoy life there. The Eastern continent was nice. And one day, a messenger came from a village further inland. He was desperate. Claimed the people of a strange religion had come into the village, and started killing people.¡± I didn¡¯t speak, but I felt a deep unease in my soul. ¡°Well, how could one hesitate? Me and some others, travelling fighters like me, gathered together. One was even an old friend¡­ she makes me graphite writing tools now. Good woman. Anyways,¡± He rubbed his cheek. ¡°We uh, we left for the village. It was about uh, about three days journey, but we managed to make it in two thanks to some knowledgeable¡­ Well, they don¡¯t call them knight on the Eastern Continent, but that¡¯s our closest equivalent, and there were two of them with us. But, we were too late.¡± He went to drink, but the flask was empty. He tossed it to Arthur. Arthur took it, and smoothly pulled a different one out, tossing it to Hasha, who gratefully took a swig. He sat silently. I almost thought he wouldn¡¯t speak again. ¡°They¡¯d killed them with purpose first,¡± he said suddenly. ¡°¡¯Only four year olds, and no others. Four years old¡­They worked with efficiency. House by house, killing the babes as their parents fought and wept. They claimed they were trying to be kind, to make it an easy process. What kind of man claims to be kind when he slaughters children? What does it matter if the people you kill are four, fourteen, or even forty year old men? They have done¡­How can you justify killing an innocent?¡± His next swallow sent him into a coughing fit. I moved to pat him on the back, but he waved me off. Once he was done clearing his throat, he continued. ¡°They uh, they¡¯d heard stories. You see, they, the Chapel of Valor of course, had set up their first foothold on the Eastern Continent almost immediately. They¡¯re very proactive that way. I suspect that is why they choose Jarvin as their base for the Prophesied Child. With its status as a trade hub, word could be sent with the merchants and travelers¡­But that isn¡¯t important.¡± He put down the flask. ¡°They set up a town on the coast, and their priests started spreading word of their religion. Then, they must have heard something from one of the villagers. A story about a child, born four years before their arrival. A demonic child,¡± he scowled, his elvish good looks becoming something horrific. ¡°The damn fools didn¡¯t question it. They went to the village and started slaughtering children in the name of finding this child. And when they ran out of four year olds, they kept going. The village wasn¡¯t very large, but they tried to resist. But against the full might of the Chapel¡¯s paladins and priests¡­¡± I thought briefly of Katya, of the sheer speed and ferocity she¡¯d fought with. Then of the knight¡¯s I¡¯d fought, and how close they¡¯d come to killing me despite my orcish advantages. That sort of terror, inflicted on a normal populace? I shuddered at the thought. ¡°We fought them back. Sixteen adventures against hundreds of Chapel warriors. Only five survived. But we had the element of surprise. We didn¡¯t rally the villagers, we didn¡¯t come up with clever tactics. All we could do was rush in and kill as quickly as we could,¡± he spoke with an odd satisfaction. ¡°To this day, I have never seen as much blood, or seen as many innocents, monsters, and friends die in the span of a single hour. In the midst of the chaos, I found the child. The true child, hidden away with his family in a basement.¡± He laughed bitterly. ¡°Half-elf! The Eastern Continent doesn¡¯t have elves! The girl¡¯s mother fell in love with a human when she went there, and villagers were simply confused at the sight of their ears,¡± he tapped his own. ¡°The Eastern Continent has a different view of such things. So they simply called them demons, like they call many spirits demons. And the damn Chapel of Valor didn¡¯t ask for details. They split children in twain, tortured them to admit their demonic heritage, forced grandmothers to strangle their grandchildren as penance for imagined sins¡­¡± He spat to the side. ¡°That, is the Chapel of Valor that I know. Overenthusiastic in their pursuit of justice, ignorant to the point of lunacy, and proud of it. Maybe not all of them. There are good men and women every religious sect, as there are devils. But there is a sickness in the heart of the Chapel of Valor. Something rotten, corrupting good men. Your king,¡± he said this to Arthur, whose face, though still, had slowly paled as time went on, ¡°supports the Chapel in all things, and he will not hear blasphemy against them. For good reason. If the Chapel of Valor, the strongest human religious institution on Turab, was to face accusations of heresy, it would fall apart. There are already lines of division in the Chapel. Groups believing in one truth over another, and willing to die to prove it. Only it¡¯s current leadership prevents the Chapel from falling apart. But if that massacre is but one of many¡­¡± Hasha shook his head. ¡°There would be little to stop that chaos.¡± I thought about that. The Chapel was the most important religious group in Turab. Everyone followed it because¡­ ¡°What about her?¡± Hasha looked at me. ¡°Katya. She¡¯s supposed to represent the Chapel soon, and she isn¡¯t anything like what you described.¡± I ignored the memory of a giggling girl smashing down men like chess pieces getting knocked over. ¡°She¡¯s a good person. And if she represents the Chapel¡­¡± I trailed off, leaving Hasha to build the trail from there. ¡°Hmm,¡± he stroked his chin. ¡°Yes, I suppose that, if a figure such as her was leading the charge, such things could be investigated with more ease. Then, rather than a religious sect falling apart, we would have a famed religious leader simply cleaning up a mess.¡± ¡°What, you two are planning on a revolution?¡± Arthur said with a scoff. The pair of us magic users, supposed intelligent minds, froze. Then we smiled sheepishly at him. ¡°Heh. Yeah, I suppose I got a bit carried away.¡± I admitted. ¡°Indeed,¡± Hasha sighed. ¡°Still, the idea was a fun one. While I do not follow the Chapel, seeing whatever corruption caused that massacre be swept away would be,¡± he swallowed away some ball of emotion in his throat. ¡°Would be quite interesting.¡± ¡°¡­Well, for now I have to finish this armor,¡± I grumbled. With this most recent revelation, I wanted to return to the familiarity of the equations, alchemy, and smithing that was my life. ¡°Let me help,¡± Hasha rose up. ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re good to work?¡± Arthur gazed over Hasha closely. ¡°You drank two flasks of the strongest damn whiskey I have.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t tell you?¡± Hasha asked, startled. ¡°I long since created runes on my clothes to protect me from poisons, so that I can work on my alchemy without fear,¡± he grabbed at his shirt, showing where a small symbol glowed. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t be much of an alchemist if I was killed by own potions after all.¡± ¡°¡­What a waste of damn fine whiskey,¡± Arthur said sadly. ¡°Eh, it was a bit bland.¡± ¡°Damnit elf!¡± ¡°Gentlemen,¡± The tall elf and skinny human turned to look at me. ¡°I have work to do. You can help, or you can leave,¡± I said with a small smile. ¡°Well, well, the little one has become a smart arse,¡± Arthur teased gently. ¡°And to think, it seems like yesterday you were only this high,¡± Hasha waved his hand at a point just below his chin, and therefore taller than most men. I felt a burst of gladness that the bad mood had been dispelled. While I was certain these revelations would have some sort of consequence, for now I had my family. The thought of Jennifer barely crossed my mind. ¡°Now,¡± I turned to the schematic I¡¯d hung on the wall. ¡°I¡¯ve decided that if I want to do this right, then I¡¯ll need to make sure that Katya never has to go to another armourer again. She¡¯s going to be saving the continent, correct? Then we need to make sure she has every tool she might ever need, while still boosting her abilities. So what my plan¡­¡± We worked into the night. It felt like old times. Us three, working on a secret in between quick bites of cheap food, agreeing, arguing, and coming to new conclusions. By the time I went to sleep, I felt more content than I had in days. Chapter 4 The next day, Katya came over. And so did Hasha. I¡¯d been going over my plans with Katya when he entered, wearing a red shirts this time. True to form, he immediately broke the ice with a joke. ¡°Oh, and you must be Katya,¡± he smiled, holding his hand out politely. ¡°Delighted to meet you my dear, though I must say, you aren¡¯t what I expected.¡± With an odd amount of gravity, a paw lifted up and shook Hasha¡¯s hand. Mountain nodded at Hasha with far more dignity than a dog should have. ¡°Hasha,¡± I said, blushing in embarrassment at the bad joke from one of my mentors. ¡°This, is Katya.¡± I picked her up by the elbows and plucked her down in front of Hasha. Katya was no help. The blonde was giggling at the sight of Hasha shaking Mountain¡¯s paw, and seemed just on the edge of full on guffaws. Apparently she had a love of bad jokes. Hasha was going to love her then. ¡°Really?¡± he winked at Mountain, who grinned back. ¡°Ah well. Good to meet you, my lady,¡± He bowed gracefully. ¡°It¡¯s nice to meet you as well,¡± she saluted him with a bright smile. ¡°So you¡¯re Char¡¯s teacher?¡± ¡°Master, actually,¡± they both ignored the startled look I gave him. ¡°I consider him my apprentice, despite the rules in place that keep me from declaring it in truth.¡± For a moment, I felt a spot of vertigo. After all these years, he¡¯d finally admitted that he thought of me as his apprentice. This was¡ª ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t you be allowed to declare it?¡± Katya frowned. ¡°Why is it against the rules?¡± I stared at her. Hasha stared at her. Even Mountain somehow gave the dog version of a dumbfounded glance. ¡°What?¡± ¡°¡­He¡¯s a half-orc,¡± Hasha said hesitantly. ¡°And the ruling council of Jarvin Tower would never allow an orc, half or otherwise, to be declared a true wizard.¡± She gasped in shock. ¡°That¡¯s not fair!¡± What was happening right now? Was she really that na?ve? ¡°Char isn¡¯t like the orcs who¡¯ve killed people! They shouldn¡¯t paint him with the same brush!¡± she shook her head, scowling. ¡°There are lots of humans that are killers, but that doesn¡¯t make us all killers! The ruling council must be stupid,¡± she looked hard at Hasha. ¡°Are they? I¡¯ve never met them, you see.¡± ¡°¡­You, my dear, are a rare gem,¡± Hasha declared. ¡°Oh. Thank you?¡± ¡°You are welcome, and thank you as well.¡± Hasha smirked. ¡°Yes, the ruling council of wizards has often made decisions based not on rational thoughts, but on flares of emotion. Char is, at best, a minor instance of this.¡± ¡°Hmf,¡± I grunted, somehow insulted. ¡°Tell you what my dear,¡± Hasha gallantly held out an arm for her. ¡°As I understand it, you have much to learn about the world. Would you like a brief lesson?¡± She nodded eagerly, taking his arm. ¡°Good. Then follow me into the living room. I think we should start with,¡± he walked off, spinning tales of the world as the Prophesied Child listened intently. I looked over at Mountain. He looked back me. ¡°¡­He was testing her,¡± I explained. For some reason, I felt that I had to explain, that I was being politely asked to. Mountain barked, eyes widening. ¡°First, he made that joke. That was to see how she views herself. Extreme anger at the perceived insult might be signs of an overly sensitive nature. An under reaction might have been signs of low self-esteem, a possible sign of as abuse as child.¡± Mountain growled, showing what he thought of the last. ¡°She found humor in it, showing a high confidence tempered with an easy going nature.¡± Mountain still seemed offended. ¡°He does these little tests at times,¡± I shrugged. ¡°They give vital information to him. It¡¯s not an exact magic of course,¡± I turned away from the far too intelligent dog to start working on my schematics again. Come to think of it, he¡¯d made a joke when he¡¯d met me as a child. I thought he¡¯d been making fun of me, so I refused to speak. He then switched tactics accordingly. So even back then, he¡¯d been testing me. Odd to think of things that way. As Hasha began to teach Katya in the living room, I finished up my plans. The armor would incorporate my steel cotton directly into it. I¡¯d test if I could make the carbon lattice I¡¯d been planning on instead, but the idea was to stack steel cotton sheets beneath the steel plates I was making. With the strength of the plates I could make, the steel cotton surround each piece would further protect her while still letting me reach my quota. I¡¯d need steel, both for the plates and the transmutation process. Cotton as well, though silk might work even better due to already being a tough piece of cloth, thought I¡¯d need to test that. Another part of the process would be my cooling plates. They were different sized sections of metal that had the rune thurizaz to direct destructive force, and the rune isaz for ice etched onto them. The largest was a meter across, and the smallest as a couple of centimeters. Using them, I could cool off metal faster than normal, without sacrificing the strength and durability of the metal. It worked by using the thurizaz rune to direct the destructive heat within the metal into the cooling effect of isaz. It took time to make each one, but the cooling plates had been invaluable in speeding up the work in the shop, and they¡¯d be a huge asset for making Katya¡¯s armor. My runes were planned out as well. Ones to increase durability, lessen weight, promote mana regeneration, so on and so forth. The only issue was her Light magic. I wasn¡¯t sure how to increase that. There were runes that dealt with concepts of light, but not Light. Well, I had her here for a reason, right? With that thought, I walked across the room and entered the living room. Mountain followed, somehow slipping through the door despite being far too large. ¡°Katya?¡± She looked up from the map Hasha had spread out on the dining table. ¡°Hmm?¡± ¡°How much do you know about Light magic?¡± Katya blinked her bright eyes in confusion. ¡°Um¡­ it is the manifestation of divine power, through believe and faith.¡± ¡°True enough,¡± Hasha leaned back in his seat. ¡°The power of the Light is a form of magic, but it manifests different manner than what I¡¯m used to. Light, natural light, comes in the form of waves, in particles. I know that, if focused, it can become intense beams of heat. It can also be redirected, to allow a person or object to be invisible. It is, to my knowledge, the fastest moving thing in existence.¡± He shrugged. But it can¡¯t create physical shields, heal diseases and wounds, or strengthen a person for a brief time. And yet, I¡¯ve seen paladins and priests do all these things. The Light seems to work based on the way its users believe it should. That is the problem with spiritual magic. When Char,¡± he waved towards me, ¡°makes a dagger, just a simple dagger, his belief, intent and willpower have no play in the process. He follows the steps, and the dagger is created. As long as he does things the right way each time, a dagger will be created. That is the reliable nature of physical magic. But then there is spiritual magic,¡± he waved at Katya and himself. ¡°If I am especially enraged, I can create fireballs as large as houses. I assume, Lady Katya, that you have a similar situation.¡± ¡°Yes,¡± she nodded. ¡°The more I believe in the righteousness of my fight, the better I am.¡± ¡°Indeed,¡± he stroked his chin. ¡°What are you trying to do, Char?¡± ¡°Well,¡± I said slowly. ¡°I want to see if I can enhance her use of Light magic somehow. If I can understand what she can do, then I can understand what I am doing. I know of several runes meant to improve efficiency of spells, or the destructive potential of them. But I don¡¯t know how they¡¯ll react with the Light.¡± ¡°Well, this calls for my favorite activity!¡± Hasha rubbed his hands together, eyes gleaming. ¡°Let¡¯s do some experiments!¡± ------ ¡°Okay, stand there,¡± Hasha directed Katya into the center of a set of runes in the middle of my workroom. ¡°What are these for?¡± she kneeled to look closer at one of the runes. ¡°It¡¯s something Hasha made for me,¡± I explained, sitting down next to the door to flip open my notebook. ¡°A safe zone. When I use spiritual magic, it keeps whatever I do inside that space. That way I can study the effects as carefully as possible without worrying about outside influence. Or explosions.¡± ¡°Explosions?¡± Katya looked up from where she¡¯d poking eihwaz, the rune for protection. Algiz, another form of protection, rested next to it, both runes about as big as a hand ?- Eihwaz ?- Algiz ¡°Spiritual magic can be volatile. So can physical magic can as well for that matter,¡± I explained. ¡°Do you use this to protect you from physical magic too?¡± ¡°No,¡± Hasha answered her. ¡°For that, we depend on physical barriers. Like three feet of stone and a few inches of steel plate.¡± She stared at him in silent alarm. ¡°Don¡¯t worry.¡± I reassured her. ¡°We just want to see you use you magic. The runes will help tell us what your using and why. Go ahead.¡± Still nervous, she nodded quickly. Then, taking a deep breath, her hands came alight. This close, the golden glow around her hands seemed somehow soothing. Peaceful. Then she started moving. Slowly, as though she was fighting hordes on invisible opponents, she moved from kicks, to punches, to simple blocks, all of them done with a graceful sort of dancing form. ¡°Hm,¡± Hasha leaned forward. ¡°She¡¯s well trained. If I were to guess, they taught to use this to learn how to better use magic in conjunction with combat. Her magic flows with each blow. Take note of that.¡± ¡°Already am,¡± I followed the movement of the magic she was using. From what I could tell, she was chanelling the same energy Hasha (and I as well, though to a lesser extent) used for his magic. However, it came out only as the Light. It flowed through her as though following veins that didn¡¯t exist. It couldn¡¯t be seen, but it could be sensed, if one had experience with it. Like being able to sense heat in the air. As she moved, a knock came at the door to the workshop. Hasha rose to get it. As he did, I noted something interesting about Katya¡¯s form. She was slowing down, her light dimming. ¡°Are you getting tired?¡± I asked in worry. She nodded. ¡°Yes. Manifesting the Light on a constant basis can be hard. That¡¯s why I prefer to use it in short bursts. It lets me conserve my energy.¡± ¡°Huh, smart.¡± ¡°Thank you!¡± she said brightly. ¡°My lady,¡± Richard poked his head in to look at us, then frowned at the sight of Katya glowing as she moved through forms in the center of a runic circle while I wrote notes. He frowned. ¡°What is this?¡± ¡°Char wants to see me use the Light so he can make my armor,¡± Katya said happily. He frowned further at the runic circle. ¡°Is¡­ that safe? I once saw a wizard kill himself in an explosion when he used runes like that. At least, I assume it was an explosion. There was a lot of purple.¡± ¡°If there was an unplanned explosion, then that wizard was a fool,¡± Hasha said firmly, stepping around Richard to enter the room. ¡°Runes are a precise magic. I have trained Char to be very careful in their use.¡± ¡°And you are?¡± Richard asked with a raised eyebrow. ¡°Hasha Nin. An accredited Jarvin Tower wizard,¡± Hasha reached into his pants pocket and took out the bronze amulet of a wizard. Richard looked at the amulet, raising an eyebrow. He looked over Hasha¡¯s simple garb. ¡°You¡¯re a wizard?¡± ¡°We don¡¯t all enjoy wearing thick robes and full beards on hot days,¡± Hasha said dryly. ¡°So you¡¯re the one that taught the orcling.¡± ¡°The one who taught Char, yes.¡± Richard grunted, then nodded at me. ¡°Arthur says he¡¯s going to pick up those materials you decided on. I¡¯ll be coming along to pay for everything.¡± ¡°Got it,¡± I wrote down a final note about Katya¡¯s apparent preference for speed once again, then rose from my chair. ¡°We should be good now. Thank you Katya.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯m supposed to say,¡± she giggled, then looked over at Richard. ¡°Um, can I stay with Hasha? He said he¡¯d teach me.¡± Richard frowned. ¡°I¡¯m not so sure about that. The Arch, um, the leader of the Chapel,¡± he clarified towards me, possible assuming (correctly) that I¡¯d have no idea who that was, ¡°won¡¯t like an unknown man teaching you.¡± ¡°As I said,¡± Hasha stepped forward. ¡°I am accredited. I promise to teach her nothing that the Jarvin Tower does not. Only simple knowledge of the world.¡± ¡°Hmph,¡± clearly not caring much either way, Richard nodded. ¡°I suppose one day won¡¯t hurt.¡± Minutes later Richard, Arthur, and I were on our way in a cart he¡¯d rented, leaving Katya and Hasha in our house as a contingent of guards stood watch over her. ------ When we reached the market, Richard hopped off the cart to go get some coin for our materials. Arthur guided the massive workhorse towards the docks where metals dug by dwarves from the Acore Mountains was brought by river boat to the city. A lot of it would be headed to the Eastern Continents, but the rest went into various projects around the city. Blacksmiths like me, construction projects, jewelers, so on and so forth. The streets were packed. Vendors yelled out about their wares as people strode around the area. Our cart wrestled past other horses and carts as we pushed through the crowd and people strived past. A street urchin reached into my pocket as we rode past, only to look up at me in disappointment when he realized my pockets were empty. When he looked up, I winked at him, getting a blush before he ran into the crowd, followed by his friends. I loved these streets. While I may not be liked, I was at the least tolerated by most. Dwarves, humans, and halflings roamed the dirty streets, and payed me little to no mind. There were glares, but nothing like the crowd I¡¯d gotten up in the Nobleman¡¯s section of the city. It was as I thinking of this that Arthur began to speak. ¡°So,¡± Arthur shook the reins a bit, ¡°been a lot of change in our lives.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± I nodded. ¡°¡­You might be understating.¡± ¡°No, you¡¯re overstating,¡± he said firmly. ¡°This is just a blacksmithing job. Bigger than most, yes, with danger to it. But still a job, and one you will do well. The change is all the new people we¡¯re rubbing soldiers with.¡± I nodded at that. ¡°Yes. Been a lot more shiny people in armor glaring at me lately.¡± ¡°And at least one who¡¯s got nothing but good feelings towards ya¡¯,¡± Arthur spat to the side. ¡°The Prophesied Child calling on little Char for help.¡± ¡°Little?¡± He barked out a laugh. ¡°You¡¯ll always be little to me brat! And don¡¯t ignore my point. How¡¯s it feel, having Katya have so much faith in ya?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a lot of pressure,¡± I shook my head. ¡°I just don¡¯t understand why she decided on me. It seems odd, to have that much faith in someone.¡± ¡°That¡¯s cause you¡¯ve never made friends,¡± Arthur said bluntly. ¡°Me and your dad were the same way. We met one time, and immediately decided we were best friends. It¡¯s how most people make friends. You just meet someone, like ¡®em, and if you stand them for more than a week, you¡¯re friends.¡± ¡°That¡­ doesn¡¯t make sense,¡± I frowned. ¡°I mean, aren¡¯t friends supposed to be more meaningfully made?¡± ¡°No. That¡¯s the thing about friendship. It isn¡¯t complicated. Just do right by them, and if they do right by you, then they¡¯re your friends,¡± he shrugged. ¡°Well, barring them suddenly turning out to be right ponces all of a sudden. Which happens. Just means you try again. Besides, I don¡¯t think you have to worry about little Katya suddenly selling you out for gold. She seems like the honest type.¡± ¡°See, now that¡¯s understating it,¡± I said with a smile. Then, I frowned at the sight ahead of me. ¡°What in the hell is this?¡± Up ahead, in the crowded streets, a group of guards were walking towards us. As we watched, they began to split up to head towards people. As I watched, the various citizens and the guards started arguing. ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Arthur frowned. ¡°Why would the city guard be here in force? Is a damn invasion coming?¡± ¡°Maybe he knows,¡± I pointed at a man striding towards us, flanked by two guards. He was similar in style and build to the official who had come to pick me up¡­ was it two days ago? Felt like longer. ¡°Peasant!¡± he called to Arthur haughtily. ¡°I require papers!¡± ¡°Papers?¡± asked Arthur. ¡°What papers? For riding through the market?¡± The official sneered. ¡°The Prophesied Child walks among us now. As such, the Regent¡¯s Lords and Ladies have called for us to begin searching for the signs of any assassins. And you, for obvious reasons,¡± he turned his sneer to me. ¡°Seem especially suspicious.¡± ¡°Well I don¡¯t have papers,¡± Arthur spat out. ¡°I¡¯m just a damn blacksmith!¡± ¡°Then you will have to be detained, until we can prove you are who you are. My apologies.¡± I frowned, and let the full growl of my voice come out as I spoke. ¡°I somehow don¡¯t think you mean that apology.¡± The official smirked. ¡°I don¡¯t,¡± he nodded to his guards, who stepped forward. ¡°Can¡¯t I leave you alone for two damn minutes?¡± asked a voice behind the cart. When we turned, Richard was striding towards us, carrying a small bag that jingled happily with coin. ¡°What is the meaning of this?¡± The official looked over Richard. Despite noting the armor, he didn¡¯t seem to recognize the caretaker to the Prophesied Child. ¡°Papers, knight. Without papers, and thus proof of citizenship to this city, I must detain those men and women for the possibility of their being assassins attempting to kill the Prophesied Child.¡± Richard blinked. I think that on some level, he was seeing the situation as absurd as I did. Here we were, getting materials to protect Katya, and we were being accused of a plot to kill her. Was that coincidence or irony? I could never tell the difference. ¡°That, is a massive waste of resources,¡± Richard mused. ¡°There aren¡¯t enough guards to search out every person, let alone to arrest that many people! Do you understand how much that would cost to fund!?¡± The official stared at him. Then, slowly, he smiled. ¡°Yes, you might be right. I could, I suppose, look the other way. If you helped to, ahem, fund the process?¡± The two guards smirked. Arthur and I looked at the bag of coin Richard held. ¡°Oh?¡± Richard quirked an eyebrow. ¡°I see. Well then,¡± He lifted the bag and opened it. Reaching in, he took a small handful into his hand, just enough gold coins to fit into a fist. The official eagerly stepped forward, eyes filled with greed. Richard punched him in the face. I coughed down a laugh at the sheer suddenness of the action. Arthur didn¡¯t hold back, bellowing in laughter. The official¡¯s guards, those people who had been watching us, and the bloody mouthed official, stared in shock at Richard. The armored knight reached down to take a handful of the official¡¯s shirt in his fist, lifting him up. ¡°G-Guards!¡± The official cried out around a mouthful of blood. All around, the armored soldiers strode towards us, while the two that had been attending the official drew steel. ¡°Belay that!¡± Richard barked. All the guards froze instinctively at the authoritative tone he used, the tone of a man used to his orders being followed. Richard pulled the official up until the shorter man was forced to balance on the tips of his toes. He snarled in the face of the official. ¡°Do you know who you just tried to solicit a bribe from?¡± ¡°I-I, what¡ª¡± ¡°No, you don¡¯t. I am Richard Dedicat, a knight of the Chapel of Valor, caretaker to the Prophesied Child, and man who you just pissed off.¡± The official¡¯s blood drained from his face. ¡°I-I¡­ I didn¡¯t know!¡± ¡°Who gives a damn what you knew!?¡± Richard spun the official around to slam him into a cart. ¡°You, an elected official of the people, just tried to solicit a bribe. You are in the midst of an operation that I know for a fact the Regent would not have approved, and you have the gall to act like things would be different if I was just a peasant? I could be the poorest beggar of the streets or King Thur himself! By the Light, the law is the law, and you will follow it!¡±Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. He pushed the man to the ground. Richard looked up at the guards. ¡°Arrest this man, now.¡± ¡°Sir?¡± the guards looked at each other. ¡°Did I stutter?¡± Richard¡¯s eyes became something akin to a raging fire in their intensity. ¡°Arrest him, and take him to prison. I will send a message to the Regent. This illegal operation is being shut down. And if I discover any of you continuing this, I will come down personally to every Guard Station in the city to beat the living hell out of you.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t speak to us like that!¡± a guard cried. His blade still unsheathed, he tightened a gauntleted hand on its hilt. Richard cocked a gravely eyebrow. Then he strode forward and backhanded the guard in a slap. The guards head twisted to the side, then snapped back to look at Richard, enraged. That rage faded when the knight stepped in to look at him with all the authority of a king. ¡°I am a knight. I obtained that title through blood and death, specifically so I could speak to trumped up little shit¡¯s like however I damn well please. No if you feel up to doing something about that,¡± he nodded at the guard¡¯s sword, ¡°take a swing. And we can settle things like men.¡± The guards all looked at each other. None of them moved. ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Get out of here,¡± Richard turned away. He rested the bag of coins on the seat next to Arthur, and opened his fist over it, letting the coins he¡¯d collected there spill into the bag. Arthur and I shared a look, then looked over at the guards. The guards noticed me, and one raised a hand. ¡°The orcling¡¯s with me,¡± Richard said without looking over his shoulder. ¡°Now don¡¯t make me repeat myself.¡± The guards rushed away. As people milled around and stared at him Richard hopped into the cart. ¡°Come. We have work to do.¡± Arthur chuckled. ¡°Yes sir.¡± ------ With the earlier fiasco over with, we were able to focus on buying our equipment. Steel, iron, bronze, and copper ingots, bull skin, hundreds of pounds of coal, small amounts of silver, three diamonds, chromium, molybdenum, several potions made to aid in blacksmithing, . By the time we were done, we had a small fortune in goods in the back of the cart, with more ready to be sent to the shop. For good reason after all. I was making armor for a religious icon. Anything less than a fortune poured into making the most high-quality armor I could would have been a waste of time. When we got back to the house and entered the workshop, I could hear Katya and Hasha speaking. I dropped the crate of steel ingots I¡¯d been carrying, then stepped into the main house. ¡°Hey, we¡¯re back.¡± Katya and Hasha had set up a small corner of the kitchen as a makeshift classroom in the time we¡¯d been gone. As I came in, Katya was leaning over the small microscope Jennifer had given me, looking at one of the slides I¡¯d created a while ago. ¡°So you see?¡± Hasha said enthusiastically. ¡°Plant cells, even in things as different as apples and potatoes, tend to share certain characteristics. As we¡¯ve seen with animal cells as well! Notice, once more, the structure of the cellulose wall. While this microscope isn¡¯t very powerful, I have one of my own that would let you see far more.¡± ¡°Wow,¡± Katya said, eyes widening as she stared into the microscope. I blinked. They were talking about biology? Wasn¡¯t Hasha teaching her about history before? ¡°Ah, Char!¡± Hasha grinned at the sight of me. ¡°I assume you¡¯ve gotten the materials?¡± ¡°Yes. I¡¯m about to get started on the armor.¡± ¡°Oh!¡± Katya looked up excitedly. ¡°Can I watch?¡± I shrugged, now used to the odd enthusiasm Katya seemed to show for everything. ¡°You can. But I guarantee you¡¯ll be bored however.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t,¡± she shook her head emphatically, pouting in a very cute way. Minutes later, I had my thick leather apron, a forge nice and hot, and a hammer in my hands. I watched the iron ingot I¡¯d placed inside the forge slowly redden, the heat of the flames within warming my skin. I¡¯d need to create the new alloy I¡¯d had a lot of success with. A long time ago, Hasha and I worked on a process he¡¯d learned within Jarvin Tower. Using iron and a new metal named chromium, we discovered a process of creating steel with incredible durability, and a brilliant shine. Combined with molybdenum, this alloy was beautiful when polished, as well as a being excellent for armor. It took a lot of work the first time I¡¯d made it, but using runes and some of the alchemical potions Hasha had, we could create our chromoly steel (the name was just a portmanteau of chromium and molybdenum), and do it better than anyone I¡¯d ever met. Even high-carbon steel wasn¡¯t as light or strong as chromoly steel. The only problem was how expensive chromium, molybdenum, and the single diamond I¡¯d need to break down to create the metal, but Richard had been more than willing to spring for them. Katya was looking through several of the reagents I¡¯d brought as Hasha helpfully assembled them out for me. ¡°What are these for?¡± I flicked my eyes back to her. ¡°Reagents. Some small plants like thyme, sections of bone from different animals, diamonds, a little bit of gold dust, all to make the best runes I can.¡± Feeling I¡¯d answered her question, I went to work. I placed the metals together, then took three of the potions we¡¯d bought and placed a droplet of my blood into each potion. Splashing the potions I¡¯d bought on the steel, chromium, and molybdenum, I then placed the combined piece in the forge. The potions were meant to combine the various molecular structures in the metal, using the magic within the potions to make the metals form to my own mental image. With my blood mixed into the potions, I¡¯d be able to focus the image in mind. The most important potion however, simply prevented the metal from becoming oxidized, something that could compromise the structure of the metal on a molecular level. Once the metal was hot, I took it out of the forge and began to hammer it, forge-welding the metal together. It may have been a mistake to use metal that took such a long time to create, but the end result would protect Katya better than any other metal I¡¯d heard of in Jarvin. It would be hard work, but I¡¯d put a few runes on my hammer to make the process faster. Not as fast as the artifact I was making would turn the process into, but I was proud to say that the runes, in combination with my strength, allowed me to forge like no one else. However, even with my strength and the runes on my hammer, it took a long time to create the chromoly steel. I¡¯d need to heat, temper, hammer, apply the potions, and do these things over and over for hours. Magic and orc muscles can only do so much to speed up time, because metal will do what it wants. You can only guide metal as intelligently as you can, not force it. It was a slow process. An enjoyable process for me. As I took the now combined ingot out and started hammering, I felt at peace. This was where I excelled. I may not have been able to summon blasts of lightning in seconds. But magic like this, requiring patience, requiring precision? That was my best skill. Slowly, I flattened out the metal over and over, working through the process of creating the chromoly. I entered a meditative state that allowed me to work with full concentration. As I worked, I could hear people enter and leave the sharp, and hear a few conversations as muffled noise. I ignored them. Not to be rude, but simply because I was focused on my work. Hours later, as the rest of the city slept, I had a flat piece of metal ready to go. I¡¯d made sure to buy good material and take my time, but I still had Hasha used a basic structural grasp spell I hadn¡¯t mastered yet to make sure it was true chromoly steel. Once we were sure of what we had, I began flattening it out before pressing a small tool I¡¯d created to it. I called it the sparker. Just a thin piece of metal connected to handle with the same engraving I¡¯d put on my now long destroyed dagger, all it did was contain a current of electricity. When touched against metal, it ran a small current against it. As it turned out, metal that had electricity running along it seemed to hold magic better than metal that hadn¡¯t. Hasha, I, and many other magic-users were researching the reason for this, but for now I simply let the process speak for itself. As I used the sparker, I could feel Katya and Richard watching as Arthur explained the process, but ignored them in favor of finishing the test. Once I was satisfied, I began to hammer the piece into shape. To do this, I placed the chromoly steel on one of the larger cooling plates and waited until the metal was cool, then marked off the design I was using for the metal. I used a small plasma tool, a purely spiritual creation that did nothing but create tiny flames of immense heat using runes, to slice through the steel and cut it to shape, putting the extra pieces aside for later. While I¡¯d gotten enough metal ingots for the whole of the armor, I still hated to throw away anything that could be useful. As I worked, Arthur began to heat more steel for the backplate and leg armor pieces. The armor was going too made of many different pieces, some of them smaller than one would believe. While Arthur wasn¡¯t going to help with the more sophisticated magic, he was plenty skilled in the main process of metalworking. I moved to help him while the chestplate cooled, using my plasma cutter to create the new pieces. Arthur would spend the rest of the day creating the various plates as I helped, but all the main details and more magical processes were something I¡¯d have to do myself. Then it was time for the runes and the planishing. I¡¯d decided on the runes I wanted already, barring a few others. Increasing the durability of the armor was obvious, but I¡¯d need to save those for last. When I¡¯d started out as a runemaker, I¡¯d accidently made a dull dagger that was extremely tough. I still had it, because I never threw anything away, but trying to sharpen something that had been turned as hard as a diamond wasn¡¯t worth the effort. In order to prevent such a mistake, I¡¯d carefully planned out each step of the process, and left some space to work with Katya¡¯s magic. The first step was mannaz, to tie the armor into the intentions of the wearer, and raid¨­. Raid¨­ was often used to mean journey, but I found that it was excellent for change, or evolution as well. With raid¨­, the various changes I¡¯d make to the chestplate would be more fluid. Most importantly, the rune went well with mannaz. If mannaz represented a person, then raid¨­ was the perfect rune to represent the changes a person went through their life. So as Katya evolved as a person, her armor would adapt, and continue to work for her. ?- Raid¨­ Which brought me to the awkward part of this. I looked up at Katya. Somehow she didn¡¯t seem poured. On the contrary, she¡¯d continued staring at me through my work, fascinated. She had a pair of dark thick lenses on that she must have worn when I was plasma-cutting and forgotten to take off. They were too big for her, which made her look very cute as she watched me. ¡°I¡¯m going to need a sample from you.¡± ¡°What?¡± Richard, who¡¯d been watching from a corner of the room, stepped forward. ¡°Something like sweat, blood, or even hair,¡± I said quickly. ¡°Nothing drastic. But these runes I¡¯ll be making are going to be tied to your genetic code, so I need a sample of it,¡± I shrugged. ¡°I would have asked earlier, but it slipped my mind.¡± Actually I hadn¡¯t wanted to broach the subject. It was a bit awkward to ask someone for a piece of the hair or a few drops of the blood. ¡°It¡¯s the principle of the Law of Contagion. Once I have a piece of the target, I can affect it from afar since its still part of a "whole", even if it''s miles or kilometers distant. In this case however, it is only so that the armor considers your body as a ¡®part¡® of it, and so will work for you more efficiently.¡° I took the time to be impressed with Katya. While she didn¡¯t know a lot, she never seemed to be confused by any of my explanations. Maybe she was faking it, but she only nodded thoughtfully at my explanation, rather than asking for clarification. Not dumb, just ignorant. The difference being that stupidity can¡¯t be fixed, but ignorance can. She reached up to her blonde locks and pulled out a strand with an adorable ¡®ow¡¯ of pain. Then she held out the hair to me. ¡°Will this be enough?¡± ¡°Perfect,¡± I took the strand and walked over to my table of regents, slipping it into a small vial. More work was ahead. But we were on our way. ------ After a few more hours of work, I decided to put an end to things. Katya seemed glad for this, as did Richard. Hasha, on the other hand, could have worked for even longer, and I suspected that he¡¯d continue researching when he got home. I¡¯d explained the rune I¡¯d seen in the garden to him, and he¡¯d been extremely excited with the idea of it. But me, I choose to rest. I needed my full focus. And truthfully, the whole experience made me tired. I was beginning to feel the stress of the past hours pile in on me. Katya was a kind young girl, but I don¡¯t think she understood just how tired I was. The constant research, the schematics I¡¯d made, the beating I¡¯d taken from the knights, the encounter with that official on the way to the docks, all the new people in my life, all the concepts I¡¯d had to deal with recently? They took a toll. After a life of quiet study and peace, with only three people in my life, I felt worn out by all of the strange things happening. So, I went to sleep. I don¡¯t remember why I woke up. All I know is that when I did, I saw a figure standing over me. The figure wore casual clothing, all a very dark shade of blue. She, and I could tell it was a she from the curves of her body, raised something in her hand. A dagger. My eyes snapped open at the sight of it. It was simple in design, curved slightly. A clear liquid could be seen on the surface. I tried to spin away, to grab her arm. But I couldn¡¯t move. She stabbed downwards. I screamed in my own mind, trapped with a killer stabbing down at me. A slender hand wrapped around the assassin¡¯s wrist. The assassin let out a gasp, and looked over at the person who¡¯d stopped her. Jennifer, wearing a purple dress and black leather boots, smirked. ¡°Yeah. Not going to happen, dearie.¡± ------ Jennifer threw the assassin back. In a display of incredible agility, she, the assassin that is, flipped through the air and landed on her feet. She reached into her pocket with lightning fast speed and flung out something that slashed through the air so fast it was a blur to my eyes. Jennifer¡¯s right hand moved with the same sort of speed, and I heard a few ¡®tinks¡¯ followed by several triangular shaped throwing knives landing on the ground. ¡°Char, throw that curse off yourself and run!¡± Jennifer called out. That was all she had time to say, for the assassin rushed towards her. A curse? My eyes, the only part of me that could move, widened. Curses were a tough bit of magic. Almost every living being and many non-living ones, had magic inside of them. That was the nature of the soul after all. This magic, when not being used, simply flowed under the skin. Curses tended to interfere with this natural process in a focused way, causing bad fortune, sickness, and acne. Or paralysis, as I was proving. The assassin must have placed it on me to prevent me from moving while she stabbed me. This was a massive problem. I could throw off a curse. With time. It was a purely spiritual magic, something I had no skill in outside of its interactions with physical magic, but I could do it. I just had to control the flow of the magic inside me to fight off the foreign intruder, much like white blood cells fighting disease. The problem was, I didn¡¯t have time. The assassin and Jennifer fought in the small confines of my room at incredible speeds, hands and feet meeting like a drum being rapidly hit, but I could see the assassin¡¯s bright purple eyes flicking to me. Sooner or later she¡¯d try to attack me again. I pushed off my thoughts of how bad I was at this aspect of magic, and simply went to work. Reaching deep into myself, I dipped into the pool of energy that was my magic. I tended to see it as a steel core within myself, pouring out a steady stream of molten metal. Hasha found that funny. ¡°So you think of yourself as steel?¡± he¡¯s asked with a small chuckle. Imagining the molten metal pouring into my limbs, I forced my magic outwards, flowing under my skin. It immediately hit interference in the form of another force of power. The assassin¡¯s curse. I imagined the molten metal of my magic pressing against the curse, burning it. It was slow going. I like to think I have a good imagination, but this sort of visualization was something I liked to do slowly, taking my time. Rushing through it was going against everything I specialized in. I pushed my magic against the curse holding me in place. A throwing knife bounced off my chest as Jennifer continued to defend me, almost shattering my concentration. The curse held for a long time. Then, under the force of my magic, it shattered. A brief wind came from me, residual energy from the curse. I rolled off the bed and hopped for the door. With my magic still flowing through me, and my body aching from the curse, I stumbled across the room. The assassin saw me move, and rushed towards me as I hobbled away. ¡°Get away from him!¡± Jennifer shot across the room and slammed her fist into the assassin¡¯s chest. Both woman started to move with incredible speed and ability, fists and elbows aiming at each other¡¯s vital points. There was an efficiency to their movements. Unlike Katya, who seemed to treat battle as much as a fun game as a fight, they moved to the most simple and brutal method of attack, aiming to finish the opponent off. I¡¯d just reached the door when the assassin managed to kick Jennifer back. She snarled something at Jennifer. Then, in a vicious move, she used the knife she¡¯d prepared to kill me with to stab herself in the hand. I froze, trying to understand why she would do such a thing. Her hands slapping together with fingers shifting into a changing set of patterns as blood poured from one and slapped the ground with a loud yell. Nothing happened. Then a chill came in the air. It pressed in around me, like slowly sinking in the cold mud of a swamp. The lights, which had been dim before, seemed to sharpen. The sickly sweet smell of rot filled the air. And a shadow came out. Inky-black, it¡¯s form wispy despite its large size, it came out from behind the assassin, despite the fact that she¡¯d been pressed up against a wall. I felt my throat become dry, even as some part of me started interpreting what I was seeing. ¡°Demon,¡± as I whispered this, the creatures face solidified into an inky black smile set against a long face, red eyes snapping open to gaze at Jennifer and me. Like a spirit, the natural beings of the wilderness, demons were creatures of pure spiritual magic. They could be good, bad, or neutral. But more often than one would like, they were made of the same sort of insanity that possessed the world¡¯s worst mortal killers. The enemies of dragons, the plague-creators, and the beings of myth. And one was in my room. The demon rushed towards me, long claws of shadow reaching out. I stepped aside, fist closing, ready to fight no matter how useless it was. Jennifer stopped it. She grabbed the shadow and slammed it to the ground. I don¡¯t know who was more shocked when Jennifer managed to wrestle a demon to the ground, me or the assassin, but we both watched in awe as the redhead and the monster roared in each other¡¯s faces. Jennifer¡¯s eyes seemed to glow as she and the beast began hitting each other, and there was a chill laugh filling the air all the while. The beast threw her into a wall, shaking the stone walls of the house, but she only cried out in laughter, launching towards the massive beast with her tiny fists and driving it back. As we stared in awe, the assassin and I shared a look. For the first time, I got a good look at her. She looked human, though I couldn¡¯t tell for sure. She was short, and seemed thickly built, with well-formed muscles under her dark clothing. Her full lips, closed, then quirked into a smirk as she looked at me. Her blue eyes flashed under ink black hair. I ran as she flashed her hand outwards. Her dagger, still soaked in her own blood, clattered against the stone wall behind where I¡¯d been standing. I didn¡¯t look back, just running down the stairs. This was the three men in the alley, or the knights from a day ago. This was a trained killer, and a fellow magic user who seemed to be willing to summon damned demons to get the job done. No way I was going to take her head-on. I avoided thinking about what such a dangerous person might have done to Arthur, who¡¯s room was next to mine, simply rushing down the stairs. A quick turn and I was at the door to the forge. I panted heavily, my muscles screaming. Despite throwing off the spell, the curse had taken its toll, and using my magic in such a reckless way had caused damage only rest would solve. No time for that now. I opened the door to the forge room, rushing past the armor stand where Katya¡¯s chestplate rested to get to my workshop. There stood my salvation. My own armor. Forgotten for days, I¡¯d only used it as a reference for the runes I¡¯d be putting on Katya¡¯s armor. It rested on it¡¯s armor stand, a proud testament to both my skills and my failures. As helpful as it may have been, I couldn¡¯t but it on, not before the assassin rushed into the room. But I could put a piece of it on. I grabbed the right gauntlet, slipping my hand inside. Pressing the runes on the outside of the wrist, I watched the gauntlet comes to life, pieces flipping into place to fit more solidly to my hand. As it did, a large tube came from the top of it, the opening aimed over my fist. I heard a noise behind me and spun around. The assassin¡¯s hand reached for her waist. My gauntlet rose. A loud boom filled the air, leaving a ringing noise in my ears as the noise echoed in the small room. Then it was quiet. I stared at the assassin. She stared back. Smoke came from the tube attached to my gauntlet. Then, she fell to her knees. I was breathing hard, panting really. The stress of the last few minutes combined with running while under the effects of the curse had taken their toll. The assassin pressed a hand to her chest, where dozens of small holes had appeared. ¡°What¡­ what happened?¡± she asked. Her voice was soft. I hadn¡¯t expected that. ¡°¡­black powder,¡± I answered, leaning against a shelf and letting my armored hand drop to my side. ¡°It makes an explosion when ignited. So I made some myself, and packed it into a barrel along with some small ball bearings.¡± ¡°Like a cannon but smaller,¡± the assassin laughed. ¡°Yes. Activated by a rune of kenaz, of fire, to ignite the black powder on my command.¡± ?- Kenaz ¡°Not the most accurate weapon,¡± she looked up at me as blood began to soak her shirt. ¡°Well¡­ it¡¯s a work in progress.¡± She chuckled. For a moment we sat there, me exhausted, her bleeding to death. ¡°I¡¯m a hybrid too,¡± she said suddenly. ¡°Dwarf mother, human father¡­ kinda funny I¡¯d end up getting killed by one.¡± ¡°Hmm,¡± was all I could think to say. ¡°No big questions?¡± the assassin asked as blood started to pool under her. ¡°Like who sent me?¡± ¡°¡­What is your name?¡± Her eyes widened. Then she sighed. ¡°Andrea. Not a name you¡¯d expect for an assassin but¡­¡± her eyes closed slowly. She fell onto her side from where she¡¯d been kneeling, cheek pressing onto the blood soaked floor. ¡°My name¡­ is Andrea.¡± Her eyes closed. Her breathing slowed. And I watched in silence as she died. I didn¡¯t move for a long time. I felt numb. She¡¯d been trying to kill me. And now she was dead. I didn¡¯t know how I felt. Or even how I was supposed to feel. After I had been standing in the room for a while, I heard footsteps rushing towards me. I lifted the gauntlet, only to remember that I¡¯d used up the one charge of black powder I¡¯d put inside it. I¡¯d need to create something more rapid-fire. Something to think about later. It didn¡¯t matter. Jennifer appeared at the door. She looked at me, pointing an empty gauntlet at her. Then at the assassin on the floor. When she looked at me again¡­it was as if her eyes had a physical weight to them. Then she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around me. I fell to my knees, the closest thing to a mother that I had hugging me close, and stared at the body of the woman I¡¯d killed. ------ ¡°Arthur was placed under a sleep spell,¡± Jennifer said as I boiled water for tea. She sat at the table that Katya and Hasha had been having their ¡®classes¡¯. As I heated the water in the fireplace, she flipped idly through a text on geological magic. ¡°He¡¯ll be out for the next few hours. You said she said her name was Andrea?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± I said stoically, letting the familiar motions of making tea calm me. ¡°Hmm. Haven¡¯t heard of her. But then, you never hear about the best assassins. That is the point after all.¡± I nodded, understanding. Then I asked one of the many questions burning inside me. ¡°How did you know she was coming?¡± ¡°Because I keep track of things like this,¡± Jennifer closed the book in her hand. ¡°Every robbery, murder, drug deal, and assassination. If the business is dirty, I try to know about it. And I cut off any of those endeavors that are too stupid or risky. As any slaver who has ever operated in this city knows.¡± I took the water out of the fireplace and poured it into the pot I¡¯d prepared, watching the steaming liquid pour over the chamomile and rise slowly upwards. ¡°So when one of my girls got wind of a contract being put out on you, I immediately intercepted it. Unfortunately, this ¡®Andrea¡¯, was already on her way. So I came, and stopped her. Or, I suppose you stopped her. I stopped the demon.¡± I thought of the massive creature, of its overwhelming presence. ¡°How did you do that?¡± ¡°Do you remember why you no longer speak to me?¡± A shudder passed over me. When I looked at Jennifer she was giving me a very calm look. ¡°Nothing less can kill a demon, Char. I am no dragon, for all my power. So I cheat. And that is the method that works best.¡± I pushed the thought of that horrific moment away to meet eyes with Jennifer. ¡°Did you ever find out who made the contract on my life?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Hmm,¡± I selected to tea cups, nice ones for special occasions, and brought the tea over to her. ¡°Someone deciding to finish the orcling off?¡± Jennifer scoffed, watching me place the cup before and pour her tea. ¡°No. I¡¯ve seen more than a dozen contracts like that. Jarvin, while not a fan of them, tends to be safer for hybrids than most places, but I do see some try to kill the neighborhood hybrid for whatever reason. I tend to make sure those get ignored. No, this was something different. Someone paid an enormous amount of money to get this done quickly, and they used a fool as a proxy. A fool who has no idea who gave the order. This is not the work of a random man with a hatred of orcs. This is something to do with your new client.¡± I remembered Katya speaking about Richard¡¯s overprotectiveness. Something about assassins. ¡°Why me then?¡± I poured out my own cup and sipped it. ¡°Why not try and kill her?¡± ¡°Rather coldhearted of you,¡± Jennifer noted. ¡°What makes you think they haven¡¯t sent anyone after her today?¡± ¡°Did they?¡± ¡°No,¡± she smirked. ¡°You¡¯re right. Of the people in the Prophesied Child¡¯s circle, only you have been targeted,¡± when she saw me frown at that, she leaned forward to put a comforting hand on mine. ¡°Char. No other contracts will be made on you. You have my word.¡± I looked down at her hand on mine. After an awkward silence With all that had been going on, I hadn¡¯t had time to think about Jennifer. About what to do about her. The closest thing I had to a mother had turned a man to charred meat, fought a trained assassin to a standstill, and somehow killed a demon. And that time¡­ my mind continued to recoil at the mere thought of it. She had also saved my life. She¡¯d never hurt me, now or ever. I was a magic user. I prided myself on my logical mindset, my ability to analyze things and come to correct conclusion. Jennifer had something dangerous inside her. But then, so did I. When I¡¯d smashed that dwarf into a wall. When I¡¯d beaten those knights. That dark anger within me, driving me to do whatever it took to survive. In fact, the assassin may have been the first person I¡¯d hurt without that rage. And I¡¯d killed her. How could I continue to treat her like a monster, when I knew full well what that meant? ¡°I,¡± a cough cut me off. Jennifer looked at me as I sipped more tea. ¡°I¡¯m glad you¡¯re here. I¡¯ve uh¡­ I missed you.¡± Her jaw dropped. She stared at me, shocked. Then, slowly, she started to smile, eyes bright with unshed tears. ¡°I missed you too, my dear child,¡± she said softly. She finished her tea and rose. ¡°I¡¯ll take care of Andrea¡¯s body. You get some sleep. And remember that I¡¯m here if you need to talk, okay?¡± I nodded. She looked into my eyes for a moment, then pressed a palm to my cheek. ¡°It¡¯ll be okay. I¡¯ll be right here whenever you need me.¡± The only answer I gave her was a nod. She smiled, then walked towards the workshop. I took another sip of my tea. I killed someone. I sipped my tea. I was a murderer. I sipped my tea. Her name was Andrea. I sipped my tea. ------ I managed to get an hour or so of extra sleep. It wasn¡¯t very good. My dreams now made far too much sense now. But it was rest, and I felt a bit better after waking up. Arthur and I had breakfast. Like Jennifer said, he had slept well. In fact, he seemed more at peace than usual. The body in my workshop was gone. Only the scorch marks on the inside of my gauntlet¡¯s barrel and the dozens of throwing knives resting on my workshop table told the story. I almost threw out the knives before looking between the triangular weapons and my gauntlet. Getting a bit of an idea, I put the knives away for later. An hour after I woke, I was back to work. The sound of a hammer on metal, the feel of a file carving out material, they all served to comfort me with the familiarity of old motions. I worked the chestpiece to shape using a rounded stake, hammering into shape. I made sure to use a piece of chalk as well. By dragging the chalk over the chestplate, I¡¯d be able to see with spots were raised, and which ones were low, and flatten the piece further. I used a scraper and file to work out the engravings on the metal. The chromoly steel was so tough, that my muscles burned as I worked, even without runes further increasing their durability, but I still managed to do the job as efficiently as possible. As I worked, I made sure to mark out the runes as well. While I was still sore from the curse of paralysis, I could still use magic and move relatively normally. Once I felt ready, I began the process of melting the gold dust Richard had bought, adding in the hair I¡¯d gotten from Katya. First, I placed the gold dust in a bowl on top of the hot forge, letting it slowly melt. As it melted, I slowly took drops of molten gold on the tip of a thin piece of hard stone that had been soaked in oil. Then I slowly let the drops flow into the engravings I¡¯d made in the armor. With the raid¨­ rune, I¡¯d could add gold and other objects to the armor, and be assured that it would join the make-up of the armor. This gold would not be as strong as the steel around it, but it would be far tougher than normal gold, which tended to be very soft, and would be able to withstand the heat treatment I¡¯d be doing later. Once I was done with that, I began work for the backplate while the engraving cooled and the raid¨­ symbol consolidated against the chromoly. Arthur had done a good job getting the backplate prepared, but I double-checked the whole thing. On realizing I¡¯d been off on my calculations, I cut off a bit from the section where the armor would be going over the shoulders. Done with that, I used an old paint paintbrush to begin making the ornate markings along the back. They would move in towards the chestplate, joining into the center design. In order to do the design, I¡¯d decided to use the resist method. In this case, using some simple nail polish Jennifer had given me a long time ago, I painted the design along the steel. The nail polish would ¡®resist¡¯ the alchemical acid I would follow up with, leaving the surface underneath almost untouched by comparison. I diluted the nail polish in acetone every once in a while, and made sure my hands were steady as I worked. This was one process I¡¯d be using of course. I¡¯d need Hasha¡¯s alchemical process to create certain things, to further work the chromoly steel the way I wanted and so on, but I was otherwise well on my way. Heat-treating, tempering, polishing, engraving, and making more steel, adding in the bronze pieces, working the smaller pieces. It was going to be hard. But I could already tell this armor would be even better than my last. Chapter 5 ¡°Hey Char,¡± Katya stepped into the workshop. Mountain followed her, somehow easily fitting his massive body through our door, with Richard behind. The tiny blonde powerhouse smiled at the sight of her armor slowly releasing heat into one of my cooling plates. ¡°You¡¯re almost done?¡± I took a bite of the cheese that was part of my lunch. ¡°No. But we¡¯ve begun the process. The smaller pieces will take time, and we might need to cheat a bit to get the whole thing done soon.¡± ¡°You have five extra days,¡± Richard said simply. When I blinked and looked at him he shrugged. ¡°Apparently the path to the den Katya will be clearing out was blocked by a sudden mudslide. Until it¡¯s cleaned out, she can¡¯t go. So I¡¯m giving you five extra days.¡± I felt a sense of relief. With the extra time, I¡¯d be able to put even more work into the armor. Chromoly steel, as strong as it was, took far more time than I¡¯d expected to finish each ingot of the material. With the extra time, I could finish each piece without worrying as much about how long it was taking. Time was my greatest enemy. The one thing that could stop me from doing the really amazing things I wanted was time, and more of it was only better for me. ¡°Hmf,¡± Katya, unlike me, seemed very disappointed. ¡°I really wanted to go. Now I have to wait even longer. It¡¯s so boring, just waiting for a good fight.¡± Mountain pressed his massive head under her hand. She gave him a grateful smile, rubbing him behind the ears. Mountain grinned at her, and she seemed to take comfort in that. ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± I said once I¡¯d swallowed the food in my mouth. ¡°This just means I can put more work into the armor. Once I¡¯d done, you¡¯ll be the most well-armored person on the continent.¡± ¡°Quite the claim,¡± Richard said. A voice came from the main room. ¡°Well, Char has never made a promise he couldn¡¯t keep.¡± We looked over to see Jennifer enter the room. She wore an elegant green dress and high red heels, here hair tied into an elaborate set of curls on top of her head. She looked more like a queen than the madam of a brothel. Richard¡¯s eyes bulged at the sight of her stepping into the workshop. ¡°J-Jen-Jennifer!?¡± ¡°Just Jennifer my dear priest,¡± she said with a smile. Katya let out a small ¡®ah¡¯ of surprise, and stepped forward. ¡°Hello!¡± she bowed. ¡°I¡¯m Katya Narveaz! The Prophesied Child!¡± ¡°Lovely to meet you dearie,¡± Jennifer smiled at Katya, then looked at Richard, who was slowly paling. ¡°Richard. It¡¯s been a while. How has work been?¡± I looked over at Richard. Katya looked at him. Mountain looked at him. Arthur walked in, saw us staring questioningly at Richard, then looked at him as well. Richard, feeling our eyes upon him, coughed into a fist and looked away. ¡°For shame, priest,¡± I said dryly. He glared at me, only for Katya to speak next. ¡°How do you know Lady Jennifer, Richard?¡± she asked curiously. With his charges big eyes upon him, Richard seemed unable to get his head straight. ¡°I uh,¡± he coughed again, ¡°she has aided me in certain issues I¡¯ve had in the past.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± Katya seemed to accept that. ¡°Jennifer is one of the people that raised me,¡± I said quietly. ¡°Like a mom.¡± An olive branch. My way of saying that whatever she was, whatever she¡¯d done, I still cared for her, and wouldn¡¯t act like the ass I had. Jennifer stared at me in shock. Then she smiled once more. A real smile, not the confident, self-assured one she seemed to prefer. ¡°Yes, I suppose so,¡± she chuckled, returning to her original demeanor. ¡°So, I here that Char is making you something.¡± ¡°Oh, yes!¡± Katya clenched a fist happily. ¡°It¡¯s going to be amazing!¡± ¡°Hopefully,¡± I grunted. ¡°This extra time should help though. I¡¯ll need it for the carbon fibers I¡¯ll be making.¡± ¡°Carbon?¡± Jennifer, Katya, and Richard asked in unison. I nodded. ¡°Carbon. It¡¯s one of the most stable states of matter in existence. Diamonds are made of it,¡± I leaned towards my regents and picked up one of the diamonds, showing it to the three of them. ¡°Carbon also a very strong substance. If I can rework it on the molecular level, create crystal lattice sheets of about a molecule thick for each sheet¡­¡± I trailed off when I noticed Richard and Jennifer looked lost. Katya on the other hand was nodding, apparently understanding what I was talking about. ¡°In basic terms, I¡¯m planning to make an extremely strong set of shirts for Katya. I¡¯ll need to protect her from electricity, as the carbon sheets are superconductive, but that is a small price to pay. Even if something manages to pierce her actual armor, the carbon undershirts would protect her.¡± Katya seemed ecstatic at the idea. Jennifer simply sighed. ¡°He gets so enthusiastic about these things,¡± she looked over at Katya. ¡°Now as for you my dear, I think I¡¯d like to get to know the young hero of our nation,¡± she looked over at Mountain. ¡°That is, if you¡¯re okay with it?¡± The massive dog nodded seriously, then grinned. ¡°Oy,¡± Richard quirked an eyebrow. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you be asking me that?¡± ¡°I only speak to the man in charge dearie,¡± ignoring the way Richard sputtered once more, Jennifer placed an arm around Katya¡¯s shoulders and began to guide her out of the room. ¡°Now sweetie, I¡¯d like to speak about¡­¡± As she left the room with an aptly listening Katya, Arthur walked over to Richard. ¡°Leave ¡®em be,¡± Arthur said to the knight. ¡°You know how womenfolk are. Probably talking about dresses or good looking men.¡± As Richard seemed to quake in fear at the very thought of Katya speaking about such things, I looked over to where Jennifer and Katya now stood down the hallway. As I watched, Jennifer made a stabbing motion. Katya grinned brightly and followed the motion. After a few more violent motions like that, with Jennifer apparently guiding her through each motion, I found myself smiling. Of course of all the things Jennifer and Katya had in common¡­ Shaking my head, I scarfed down the rest of my food and went back to work. Lifting my alchemy set, I began mixing the next potion I¡¯d need. Arthur went back to creating more ingots of metal for me moments later. When Katya entered the room with Jennifer later, I looked up at her. Then I stared a bit harder. Her cheeks were fuller. Her lips and eyes somehow more prominent. She seemed to glow. For a moment I didn¡¯t understand why seemed so different. Then I realized what had happened. ¡°I like your new makeup,¡± I said. Katya smiled. ¡°Thanks! Jennifer taught me how put it on better!¡± ¡°It¡¯s nice to have a new student,¡± Jennifer smiled gently. ¡°Of course, working on properly corrupting the poor dear will take time, but¡­¡± As Richard¡¯s eyes bulged, the knight apparently unable to process this newest of threats to his charge, I continued my work, Mountain watching me hammer with calm eyes. Five extra days. And I¡¯d be using every moment I had. With all the comforting sounds around me, as Richard tried to speak with Katya on his feelings on her burgeoning friendship with Jennifer, with the smell of the forge burning and steel bending beneath my fingers, I could almost forget that I was a murderer. ------ The next day, I found myself in heaven. ¡°More books than I¡¯ve ever seen¡­¡± I looked around the massive shelves around me, amazed by the sheer number of books resting on those wooden bookshelves. ¡°Yes, well,¡± Richard coughed, trying to hide his amusement at my awe. ¡°You said you needed some reference material. So, I thought this would do the trick,¡± he waved around us. The Chapel Library was as large as one of the castles. In fact, from the outside I¡¯d assumed it was a castle. But the truth was far more incredible. Books. Thousands, maybe tens of thousands, of books. Several floors of them. The gray stone under my feet made an odd ¡®clomp-clomp¡¯ sound as I went from shelf to shelf, grabbing the titles that I saw and adding to the pile in my arms. ¡°Do you know how hard it is to find some of these?¡± I said almost reverently. ¡°These are priceless!¡± ¡°Then stop damn well piling them in your hands,¡± Richard grumbled. Chagrined, I placed them on a smooth wooden table. ¡°The Chapel has one of the largest libraries in the whole of Turab, second only to the Dedicat University¡¯s. But use of the books is restricted. Only certain personal are allowed in, and only in certain sections.¡± ¡°Why would you restrict any of this?¡± I flipped open a book on alchemical solutions, finding a more advanced version of the potions I used to combine metals into different alloys. ¡°Because of the invention of the damn printing press,¡± he pointed at a set of doors. ¡°This place is full of things we don¡¯t want getting into the general populace, much of it behind that door. And it was easy to prevent that when people had to handwrite every single page over thousands of hours. But now? A group of men can create hundreds of pages in the course of an afternoon. If anyone came here, and stole one of the more dangerous books of knowledge? They could distribute them to the populace before we¡¯d even know what happened. Better to protect the knowledge from the start, than to deal with the aftermath.¡± I was momentarily torn. Everything inside me screamed that hoarding these books was wrong. That keeping information from the people was just holding back civilization as a whole. But at the same time, Hasha had long since taught me the dangers of using knowledge unwisely. Simple runes could become the catalyst of far worse things after all. Alchemical potions to heal could easily become poisons if used incorrectly. I decided not to comment, and simply copied as much information as I could in the three hours allotted to us. Alchemy, rune-making, metallurgy, and spirit summoning, anything that could help make Katya¡¯s armor. Towards the end of the third hour I was almost done, only to realize something. I couldn¡¯t find the rune of connection. The one from the garden, the one that did something to the strength and joining of the runes. Flipping through different texts, being gentler in the case of the more fragile books, I dug through the library as best as I could. Richard, noting my sped up pace, frowned. ¡°What are you looking for?¡± ¡°A rune of connection, the one keeping the garden in front of the main castle healthy. I think I can use it as a cheat, to fuse all the runes in Katya¡¯s armor without needing to depend on more time-taking methods.¡± ¡°Rune of¡­¡± Richard shrugged. ¡°Well that would probably be in the restricted section. Now come on. Times up.¡± ¡°Damn it,¡± I sighed sadly, but began putting away the books. Still, the visit had ended with good results. With the notes I¡¯d taken, and the insights of priests and wizards hundreds of years my senior, I should be able to make Katya¡¯s armor that much faster. I chuckled at the thought of those ancient men and women, and how they might have reacted to knowing that a half-orc was going to take their research and create something with it. I actually had the thought often, but it still made me smile. When we got back, I¡¯d begin incorporating these new techniques into Katya¡¯s armor. One step at a time.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ------ The next day, I was doing work on the gauntlets. The chestplate and backplate were cooling off, with the runes I¡¯d place within them merging with the armor. The gauntlets, on the other hand, needed a lot of work. While armor on the whole tended to be very intricate over all, gauntlets and greaves, or hand and foot armor, need to be able to move with the wearer while still protecting them. This made them the worst parts to make in a time crunch. So, I was cheating. I placed a diamond on top of some silk cloth I¡¯d brought. Well, that Richard had bought. Then, I pressed my magic within the diamond. Crystals, thanks to the many facets, tend to reflect magic well, making it easier to bounce the energy within them. Slowly I sought out the carbon of the diamond. This part was part imagination, part physical magic, and part wishing very hard. I wanted to force the properties of the carbon within the diamond into the silk cloth, and force it to form as I wanted. Once done, I should have the sheet of pure carbon lattice. Not just a sheet actually, but over a million layers of sheets! Of course, I might end up failing, and destroying a very expensive diamond. There was a reason I was doing this in the privacy of my workshop. While Hasha mixed more alchemy potions and Arthur made more sheets of chromoly steel, I¡¯d see about finally making this dream of mine come true. It had worked before, when I had transmutated cotton into steel. But what I was doing now was transmutation on another level. Not just transforming the silk, but doing it on the most basic of levels. Knowing it could work, should work based on my earlier experiments and research, wasn¡¯t the same as making actually work. If it did however¡­ I pushed that thought away. I pushed away my hopes, my fears, and my feelings of inadequacy. When the realization that the chair I was sitting on rested on the spot where Andrea died, I pushed that away as well, hard as that was. Transmutation magic, rune magic, blacksmithing magic, alchemy magic, they all only benefitted from a cold, logical mind. You sit, you wait, and you do it as clear minded as possible. So I pushed it all away, made my focus as clear as I could, and began to do some damn magic. My inner energy, the steel core that poured molten metal into my limbs slowly merged with the diamond. The carbon within was there for the taking. Then I reached into the silk cloth. I could feel the strength of that white piece of fabric. Despite its beauty, there was a large amount of tensile strength in it. It was why I¡¯d picked after all. Sympathetic magic would make a connection between the silk cloths current strength, and its later durability. Bit by bit, I let my magic permeate through the diamond and the cloth. My hands glowed a deep blue while they rested over the two objects. The glow intensified the more I felt my magic flow the way I needed. Then, once I was sure I had enough of the structure of both objects down, I began the transmutation. Slowly, the diamond began to break. On the outside, it must have looked like the diamond was turning to motes of ash. On the molecular level, the carbon within the diamond was pressing into the silk. As I worked, I began the hardest part. Slowly, I forced the silk cloth to follow my design. A carbon lattice layering into the thick weave, over and over. Molecule thick, pressing together, becoming stronger and stronger. My mind shuddered under the stress. Creating such detail, forcing the silk cloth to turn into such a different structure, was hard, even with the sympathetic connection. I kept calm. Over and over, I used the molten metal of my magic to form the crisscrossing form I needed. Four hours later, I stepped out of my workshop. Hasha looked up from his alchemy set. Arthur stopped hammering. Mountain, Richard, Katya, and Jennifer, all sitting around the table that we¡¯d dragged from the dining room, looked up as well. ¡°Ladies and gentlemen,¡± with a certain satisfaction, I held up a piece of cloth big enough to cover a door. ¡°The strongest sheet of material in the world. With a tensile strength of over 130000, this can stop arrows with ease. It¡¯s almost too strong.¡± Katya clapped, smiling proudly. Mountain barked. Even Arthur nodded in fierce approval. Richard, Jennifer, and Hasha started at me for a moment. Hasha hesitantly spoke. ¡°Char¡­ if it¡¯s so durable, so strong¡ª¡± ¡°How are you going to cut it?¡± Jennifer finished for him. Richard nodded. I stared at the room, the satisfied look on my face freezing. I stared at the sheet of black cloth in my hands, made to stop anything short of a dragon¡¯s claws. The large, square shaped fabric that I¡¯d need to cut to fit Katya. ¡°¡­damn it.¡± ------ Later, I began work on a personal project of mine. While Katya¡¯s armor took up most of my time, I couldn¡¯t help but want to finish one or two things for later. After all, people had tried to kill me twice now. Best to make sure they didn¡¯t succeed the third time. So I stood in my workshop with Hasha, working on the first project in tools to prevent my murder. ¡°The exact amount, Char, is the key,¡± Hasha said as he slowly measured out the saltpeter. He was smiling as he did so. ¡°Where did you get saltpeter anyways?¡± Oh boy. This would go well. ¡°I made it.¡± Hasha froze. He looked at me, eyes widening. ¡°You¡­ made it?¡± I gave him a sheepish look. ¡°Uh, yes. I got the instructions from a book. A process where you take a drum affixed with a drain, valve, and filter at the bottom. You fill it with manure, urinate into it, then top it off with water. After about 10 months, dry it out on trays.¡° Hasha stared at the saltpeter. You¡¯re saying that you... made this with your urine. And manure.¡± ¡°I ran out of the market-bought kind. This was all that was left.¡± ¡°Why did you even have it!?¡± I winced. ¡°It was just an experiment!¡± Hasha blinked. Then he nodded. ¡°Well that¡¯s fine then. Seems the experiment went well, this is good saltpeter.¡± Apparently I¡¯d said the magic word. I grinded the saltpeter with a mortar and pestle, turning it into a fine powder. Hasha did the same with the charcoal and sulfur. We calculated the weight of the powders. For one kilogram of our final product, we¡¯d need 748 grams of saltpeter, 133 grams of charcoal, and 119 grams of sulfur. Next, we moistened the powders, placed them in the mortar, and grinded them together with the pestle for 12 minutes. I took a minute to thank god for my workshop. If he¡¯d done this outside, where Art was forging, a single stray spark could have lit the black powder. We kept adding water in small increments, until the powder had the consistency of thick clay, forming it into a ball. Then, carefully using a sieve, we split the ball into several small pieces, putting them on the table. ¡°Okay,¡± said Hasha as we stared at the innocuous looking piles of black balls. ¡°Now we just wait for it to dry. You have a bag ready?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± I took a brown leather bag off a shelf. ¡°Put runes against fire and electricity on it.¡± ¡°Good man,¡± he patted me on the shoulder. ¡°So¡­ we¡¯ve made black powder. And you have the powdered aluminum and ferrous oxide as well. I have to say, if I didn¡¯t know how careful you are, I would feel nervous about giving you these.¡± Despite the joking tone, he did sound worried. ¡°It¡¯s all for later,¡± I sighed. ¡°What do you need an explosive compound for anyways?¡± Hasha asked nervously. ¡°I¡¯m experimenting with tools for Katya,¡± I said. This was a half-truth at best, but a good one. ¡°I figure she might want non-lethal options one day. So I¡¯m going to use gunpower and skunk oil to create a bomb to disable opponents.¡± Hasha winced. ¡°Oy. You have a real hatred for her future opponents. Skunks have been known to knock dragons on their asses.¡± I snorted at the imagery. Even as I did, I began planning for the next tool. No one would ever get the drop on me again. Not without paying for it. ------ After that debacle, I had to come up with a way to cut the cloth I¡¯d made. Hasha finally brought over a scapel and used that cut it to shape. The scapel, designed with runes Hasha hadn¡¯t taught me yet to slice through anything, still managed to dull, and it took up a bit of time to slice through the carbon sheet. Still, it was worth it. With the carbon sheet as support, I could make the armor even fast without sacrificing the strength of it. Katya preferred a style using her natural grace and speed to fight after all. And while chromoly steel was lighter than normal steel, it still had a certain amount of weight. Using carbon sheets, I could supplement the already strong chromoly steel, and allow her to move as fast as she wished. We got unexpected help from Jennifer in the tailoring of the carbon sheets, and changed the design to fit some of her suggestions. The carbon sheet, which was a black colored material, was recolored with some yellow to evoke the look of a fist, making the ¡®skirt¡¯ of Katya¡¯s armor evoke the symbol of her order. With that recut, I focused once more on the more articulated pieces. I messed up a few times. No magic-user is perfect. But my mistakes only helped me learn. Later, Katya was wearing the completed gauntlet. I buckled it to her wrist as she watched in excitement. We both sat in my workshop alone, the others doing something else. Katya watched patiently as I finished the attachments. ¡°How¡¯s it feel?¡± I asked her. She looked at it carefully. Polished to a bright silver sheen, it had an engraving of a line from the Chapel¡¯s holy book etched onto the surface. ¡®Doubt not that the Light shall crush evil with its radiance.¡¯ A very ominous line, and fitting for a gauntlet in my opinion. Her fingers were covered in interlocking plates that went back into the wrist section, up to her arms. The glove of carbon sheets I¡¯d managed to make her rested under the steel plates. I¡¯d hidden the runes of the gauntlet under the plates of course. While runes did make impressive decorations, only a fool showed them off. A rune you could see, was a rune you could analyze, and potentially counter. She twisted her wrist, going through the range of motion I¡¯d taught her, and I could see that she had some trouble with the fingers. I wordlessly gestured, and she passed me her hand. I looked over the rivets on the fingers, loosening them slightly. Once I was done, I gestured for her to try again. This time she could move much more easily. ¡°So, you want to know what this can do?¡± I said with a smile. ¡°Yes,¡± Katya said eagerly. I clenched my fist. ¡°Like this. Push the Light into the gauntlet, and the runes will do the rest,¡± she raised her fist, getting it close to her fist. I panicked, grabbing her hand and pulling it away. ¡°Wait! Point away from anything important, please.¡± Now looking spooked, she did as I asked. For a moment nothing happened. Then, slowly, a bright white glow came from the top of her hand, resolving into a symbol. The kenaz symbol, representing fire, beacons, light, and life. ?- Kenaz Slowly, the glow extended outward into a blade of Light attached to the top of her wrist. The blade was about six inches long, and buzzed as it glowed. ¡°Wow,¡± Katya¡¯s eyes glowed in the Light. ¡°That¡¯s amazing.¡± ¡°You feel tired? I know you said manifesting the Light as a physical object can be exhausting.¡± ¡°No, I can¡¯t even feel it.¡± ¡°Good. I put in a rune of mana regeneration, but that¡¯s always a toss-up,¡± I sighed sadly. ¡°Energy cannot be created or destroyed, so runes of mana regeneration generally don¡¯t work as you expect. The best I could do was make your use of it more efficient.¡± ¡°What else can it do?¡± She carefully swung the blade, watching silently slice through the air. ¡°Well, the default is the blade. But as you learn, it should be able to manifest anything you want, as long as you have the energy. Within reason of course.¡± She nodded eagerly. ¡°It¡¯s so amazing that you can do all these things.¡± ¡°Blame Hasha and Arthur,¡± I watched her slash outwards with her the blade, moving into a pattern of attack. ¡°And all the books of course. I¡¯m smart, but I wouldn¡¯t be able to do these things without the research of older and wiser men and women all over the world. I¡¯m still learning, but having the resources Hasha gave me have helped.¡± ¡°Hmm,¡± Katya seemed to think for a moment. ¡°Char? Where are your parents?¡± I froze. It took me a moment to decide how to answer. ¡°They, uh, they¡¯re dead. Killed by a mob when I was young.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± Katya gave me a sad look. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± I shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s a common story. A lot of the children around here are being raised by uncles, aunts, brothers, sisters¡­ anyone who was old enough. After the plague, a lot of older people died.¡± ¡°¡­My parents died in the plague too,¡± Katya bit her lip. I didn¡¯t reply, waiting for her to continue. ¡°I was found in the house by the Arch-Bishop. He saw me in a vision, and knew I was the Prophesied Child. He took me in. And Richard raised me.¡± ¡°Arthur raised me,¡± I gave her a smile. ¡°I guess we both had parents after all.¡± ¡°Heh,¡± she giggled. ¡°Yes, I suppose we did¡­ Char?¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°What happened?¡± When I gave her a confused look, she clarified. ¡°On the day that Jennifer came. You were sad. You just seem¡­ like something very bad happened.¡± My breath left me entirely. She¡¯d noticed. Somehow, despite trying to hide it, she¡¯d noticed. I stared at her, wide-eyed. She stepped forward to place a hand on my shoulder. ¡°Char¡­ You don¡¯t have to tell me. But I¡¯m here if you need to talk about it.¡± I looked over at that spot on my floor. Where Andrea had died. After trying to kill me. The hand on my shoulder tightened. ¡°I¡­¡± there was something in my throat. I swallowed it down. ¡°I killed someone that day.¡± She didn¡¯t look away from me. She simply listened. The story of that night came out. I left out Jennifer and the demon. I simply spoke of the assassin trying to kill me, and of my attempt to defend myself. ¡°It wasn¡¯t your fault,¡± Katya took my cheek in hand looked into my eyes, friendly smile in place. ¡°She tried to kill you Char. It wasn¡¯t your fault.¡± ¡°I know, but¡ª¡± ¡°But?¡± ¡°I still feel wrong.¡± She nodded. ¡°Good. Killing someone should never feel good.¡± ¡°¡­Have you killed someone before?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± the answer surprised me, as did the sad smile on her face. ¡°I told you. Assassins have tried to kill me before. And Richard was late once. I had to save myself, like you did.¡± ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m sorry.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± Katya patted my cheek. ¡°You just have to talk about it. Tell people. And remember that you were just defending yourself. Doing bad things for the right reasons, as long as it really is for the right reason, is okay. The Light demands its followers find balance between what is right, and what is lying justification,¡± she looked deeper into my eyes. ¡°Did you want to kill her?¡± ¡°No,¡± the word came out so easily. And yet, I felt relief at the sound of it. ¡°I didn¡¯t want to. I just wanted to stop her, and I reached for the first thing I thought would¡­¡± She wrapped me in a hug. Feeling her against me, so small but trying comfort me, made me feel like a child. ¡°It¡¯s okay Char.¡± Calming down, I nodded. We stayed like that. After a moment, she stepped back and gave me a bright smile. ¡°Sometimes, all you need is a friend to talk to about this stuff.¡± ¡°Haven¡¯t had too many of those,¡± I admitted softly. ¡°Well you have me,¡± she giggled. ¡°And Mountain. And Richard!¡± I groaned at the last. After a moment, I asked a question that had been on my mind. ¡°Uh, Katya? Why did you decide to trust me? I mean, you knew me for a day before you decided I was the one to make you armor. What made you so sure I was the one you wanted?¡± She didn¡¯t hesitate. ¡°Because I saw how much you loved it,¡± when I frowned in confusion she continued. ¡°Blacksmithing. You probably don¡¯t know, but even though you don¡¯t smile a lot, you always smile when you work.¡± ¡°I smile,¡± I protested. ¡°You smile now,¡± she said mischievously. ¡°Around us. But you never smile at the Chapel, or when we go out into the city. Just here, and when you work.¡± ¡°Why would I smile when I¡¯m not happy?¡± An awkward silence followed. Katya finally nodded. ¡°There are a lot of reason why I chose you Char. You love making armor, which means I knew you¡¯d do your best. You¡¯re smart, so I knew your armor would be good,¡± she blushed. ¡°But I also thought maybe you were a nice person who needed a friend. And I needed one too.¡± That made me smile once again. She really was na?ve. Choosing a person to make her armor because she wanted a friend of all things. But then, I¡¯d learned I liked that about her. I coughed, turning around so she wouldn¡¯t see me smiling, and picked up the other piece of armor from the table. ¡°Well, I suppose it¡¯s time for work again.¡± I gruffly raised the other gauntlet. ¡°Now. While the gauntlets will help you with your magic, and also have runes to aid your strength and increase durability, I want you to understand everything about them. If you ever have a problem in the field, then you need to know what it is so you can fix it. So look.¡± Raising the other gauntlet for her to see the runes within, I tried to regain my stoicism. Still. It was nice to have a friend. Chapter 6 The day after I told her about the attempt on my life, I could tell it was bothering her. I was watching Katya fight another small group of knights in the training area where those four knights had tried to kill me. As I watched her beat down her opponents, twirling and spinning through the air, Katya seemed to have plenty of time to ask me questions. ¡°What weapons do you use Char?¡± she backflipped out of the way of a slice, then rushed in to smack her sword against the helm of the man who¡¯d slashed at her with a longsword. ¡°I don¡¯t use them,¡± I answered, reaching down to scratch Mountain¡¯s massive head. ¡°I¡¯ve made a few in my day.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Katya hopped into the air to dodge a tackle, landing on the man¡¯s back with crushing force. She released another burst of Light magic, sending the man flying. ¡°Well, what about unarmed combat?¡± ¡°Not all of us were trained since childhood to be the heroes of a nation,¡± I noted stoically. Two more men charged at Katya, slashing out her again and again. Almost casually, she began parrying their blows, bursts of Light following each blow to stagger the men. She bit her lip, thinking cutely as she held off two grown men with ease. Then, with a nod, she threw both men back with an explosion of light from her body, then punched them in the helmets in two quick movements I could barely see. ¡°Okay. That¡¯s fine then.¡± I wondered what she meant, but decided it wasn¡¯t important. I made another sketch on the armor design, making a note to cut the section protecting her hops a bit to allow her to jump easier, then went back to watching her treat grown men in armor like her personal toys. ------ The next day, rather than making the armor, Richard had me go with him to a room. Filled with beat up training equipment like mannequins and bags of sand, it rested in a castle on the Chapel¡¯s massive grounds, somewhere in the southeast corner. Richard hadn¡¯t explained why he¡¯d brought me there. He simply walked into the shop, told me to come and let Arthur and Hasha finish the day¡¯s work, and guided me to this place. ¡°Katya tells me you have no training.¡± I eyed him carefully. ¡°In what?¡± ¡°Fighting, orcling,¡± Richard rolled his eyes. ¡°This hard enough as is, don¡¯t make it worse.¡± ¡°Damn it priest, I have no idea what you¡¯re talking about,¡± I growled. We glared at each other. After a moment, Richard sighed. ¡°Katya wants me to train you in fighting.¡± ¡°¡­Why?¡± Richard scoffed. ¡°Because she doesn¡¯t want you getting hurt. So now I¡¯ve got to train a damn orc in how to kill better. The Light must have a sense of humor.¡± I thought about that for a moment. In truth, I wasn¡¯t against the idea. I¡¯d never been trained after all, beyond the intensive workouts Hasha taught me to increase my fitness. And I could understand why Katya wanted this, after hearing about the attempt on my life. She hadn¡¯t inquired further, but I could tell it bothered her. But¡­ ¡°Isn¡¯t this a waste of time?¡± I quirked an eyebrow. ¡°I have to finish the armor.¡± ¡°It can wait for a bit,¡± Richard shook his head. ¡°I¡¯ll just cover the basics. A bit of self-defense training might have helped from getting cut apart like you did when those Light-damned fools tried to kill you.¡± ¡°What happened to them by the way?¡± ¡°Three executed, one exiled.¡± He shrugged at the surprised look on my face. ¡°They tried to kill an unarmed man. As I said, orc or no, the Chapel of Valor has no love for such cowardice.¡± I took a moment to wonder how I felt about that. Before I could, Richard grabbed a wooden sword off the wall and threw it to me. I dropped it, surprised by the sudden throw. As I kneel ed to pick it up, he took a wooden sword for himself. ¡°Now, we¡¯ll cover the basics of the sword, then move onto unarmed. We only have about two hours, so we¡¯ll make sure to do as much as possible. Ready?¡± ¡°Not in the slightest,¡± I grunted. He smirked. ¡°Basic stance. Keep your body sideways. This gives an opponent less of a surface to strike. You want to have a good center of gravity, so that you won¡¯t fall over easily. Now, big as you are, your center of gravity is higher than most, so some opponents will try to take advantage of that. You need to be careful. Take a swing at me.¡± Awkwardly, I slashed downward with the blade, copying how Katya did it. Richard easily blocked the blow. ¡°Good, but you need to tighten up. You want to be able to strike and retreat as fast as possible. Shorten your range of motion. Like this.¡± He slashed. Then I copied him. Over and over we worked. It was actually very interesting. A lot of concepts I hadn¡¯t considered a part of fighting turned out to be a part of it. It actually gave me several ideas for Katya¡¯s armor, or at least refinements to those ideas. Then we moved over to hand-to-hand. And I found myself further enjoying myself. Swinging a sword was fun. But the feel of hitting something solid with my bare hands was far more satisfying. This may have been because of the fact that my natural strength gave me an advantage. As strong as Richard was, he couldn¡¯t stand up to a single blow if I was really trying. Of course, his training and speed gave him more useful advantages, but the gap was smaller than when I was using the sword. After about an hour and a half of this, we finally sat down next to each other on the steps that lead into the training room. Richard, panting hard, handed me a waterskin. While I wasn¡¯t as tired as he was, due to my orc stamina, I was still extremely grateful both the break and the water. As I sipped, Richard shook his head. ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re only half-orc?¡± ¡°That¡¯s racist,¡± I said calmly. ¡°Hmf,¡± Richard took his waterskin back. ¡°Yeah well, get as many orcs baying for your blood and sacrificing babies for dark magic as I¡¯ve had, and stereotyping becomes a matter of survival.¡± I didn¡¯t have anything to say to that. If anything confused me about orcs, it was the constant hatred they seemed to have for humans. And yet, my mother had apparently loved my father. Was she an outlier, or proof of something deeper in orc politics? I considered broaching the subject with Richard, or Hasha. Hasha once told me that ignorance and knowledge are the two things that shape the world. Ignorance constrains us. Knowledge frees us. However, both bring pain. There are somethings that we feel we would have been better off not knowing. There are others that cause pain because people¡¯s ignorance causes them to make decisions they wouldn¡¯t have if they had the knowledge to do otherwise. I was an exampleof that. Those who knew me, knew I wasn¡¯t the sort of person to attack someone for no reason (Blue eyes stared at me as the life faded from them). Those who didn¡¯t know me assumed I was a monster. I was ignorant of orc society. But what would I learn if I dug deeper into it? Would they be the monsters the world saw them as, or would there be something deeper there? Ignorance versus knowledge. Both could cause pain. But in the end, knowledge was the better of the two. Knowledge gave you options. It gave you the ability to learn, to grow, to move past the pain. Ignorance may have been bliss, but a gilded cage was still a cage. Freedom, for all the pains it gives us, is infinitely better. I resolved to finally ask Hasha about what he knew of orcs after I finished Katya¡¯s armor. Then, once I knew more¡­ maybe I¡¯d go find out myself. ------ Later that day, Katya and Hasha were having yet another class together. But this time, I was apparently the example for the day as well. ¡°Physical and spiritual magic,¡± Hasha said as I ground cougar eyes, coal, and a bit of gold dust together. ¡°Physical magics are the things that would happen no matter the emotional or spiritual energies around it. Gravity, for example, is the same in every part of the world, barring example s where someone is directly influencing it. In other words, if something is the same no matter how enraged or ecstatic one is while doing it, then it is physical magic.¡±Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. ¡°So blacksmithing is physical magic,¡± Katya was sitting on a chair next to me. The chair was a bit tall, allowing her to swing her feet as she watched me create my reagent. ¡°Exactly right,¡± Hasha said with a smile. ¡°No matter how emotional Char is, as long as he follows the exact directions he needs to, then every dagger he makes will be relatively the same.¡± Katya nodded, biting her lip in thought before speaking. ¡°So then, spiritual magic is magic that is effected by emotions? Magic that can change based on how you feel?¡±¡± ¡°Exactly right,¡± Hasha and I said in unison. I continued. ¡°I specialize in physical magic, and spiritual magic that has traits of physical magic, like runes and alchemy.¡± ¡°While I do much better with spiritual magic overall,¡± Hasha said. ¡°Wait, runes and alchemy are spiritual and physical?¡± Katya asked. ¡°In a sense,¡± I finished grinding the reagents together and placed them on the forge to heat up. ¡°Runes and alchemy tend to follow certain trends of magic like blacksmithing, in that you can consistently make the same rune or potion. But they can be affected by emotion while making them. So they straddle the line between physical and spiritual magic.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± Katya looked between us, ¡°So which is better?¡± ¡°Physical,¡± I said. ¡°Spiritual,¡± Hasha declared at the same time. We looked at each other surprised. ¡°Physical/Spiritual,¡± we repeated in unison. I glared at my teacher as he glared at me. ¡°How can you even say that? You know physical magic is more stable!¡± I asked. Hasha scoffed. ¡°Stable, but the results are way too static! There¡¯s no spontaneity to physical magic, no room for adapting in the moment.¡± ¡°Oh please, because everyone likes having their magic explode every time they use a spell?¡± My master, a man over a century old, sputtered. ¡°Just because you can¡¯t control your spiritual spells¡ª¡± Katya began to giggle as my master and I replayed an argument as old as magic itself. The reagent began to bubble as we argued, ready to be applied to the helmet I had waiting nearby. ------ So the days went on. Hasha, Arthur, and I worked around the clock. Katya, Richard, Mountain, and Jennifer were in and out, asking us questions, advising us, or, in the case of Katya, wearing the various pieces of armor to test them for fit. It was the most rewarding experience of my life. Having my old family and new friends around me, testing ideas that had once been too expensive to try, designing something that was slowly becoming beautiful, I felt like all of my work was finally having a purpose. A long time ago, I¡¯d had a dream. That one day, I¡¯d create armor for a hero. And Katya would be that hero. The sweetest person I¡¯d ever met would be one of the greatest heroes in the land, and I felt proud to be a part of that. So we worked. Hours were put into runes, the trash can of the shop was full of empty bottles of potions, Richard sent guards out constantly for regents and materials, and Katya beat over thirty men to a pulp to show me her fighting style. My muscles burned from the constant use of magic and hammer, the familiar heat only indicating how much I was doing. Until, on the final day, we were done. Jennifer, Hasha, Arthur, and Richard watched as I rolled the armor stand over next to Katya, who stood in a simple cotton shirt and trousers. With them watching, I began to place the armor pieces on Katya. Slowly, taking my time, I made sure each piece was fitted. This armor, built with cougar eyes, bull hide, chromoly steel, carbon sheets made from silk and diamonds, blood, and time, hours and hours of it, was finally finished. Now it was time to put it all together. First, Katya put on the under suit. First was an insulating set of padded shirts. Set with runes of isaz, raid¨­ and kenaz, woven with thread dipped in Katya¡¯s blood, the thick cotton shirts would change temperature to keep Katya comfortable, switching between cold and heat. They¡¯d also help absorb the shock of blows the armor couldn¡¯t divert. I¡¯d had plans to create some sort of gel that would do the job even better, but the time constraints had caught up with me. Then her carbon sheets followed. A shirt, trousers, socks, and gloves, all fitted to her body. When it was done, she was dressed in black sheets streaked with the yellow of the Chapel of Valor, giving her the look of a tiger. Then it was time for the armor. I placed the chest and backplate onto her, clipping them together. As I did, Katya giggled. When I looked over her shoulder at her, she grinned. ¡°Tickles a bit,¡± her smile widened. ¡°And look! No breast protrusions!¡± She tapped her shining chestplate. The design on her chest was of the Chapel of Valor¡¯s fist, with a twist. All around the fist was the etched markings of a forest, with the mounts each race of Turab was famous for using. A tiger for elves, bear for dwarves, and a horse for humans. It was very abstract, since I hadn''t had time for more detailed designs, but it could still be seen. And one more. Katya looked closer at the horse. It was etched in underneath the fist. It was resting against a tree. And beside it was a wolf. The mount of orcs. The horse and wolf were resting side by side underneath the etched design of the fist of the Chapel of Valor, all done in a lighter sheen than the already bright polish of Katya¡¯s armor. Katya traced the designs. ¡°It¡¯s really nice.¡± I smiled at the honest awe in her voice. When I looked up, the older people in the room were watching us with smiles of their own. Richard eyed the wolf and horse. I expected him to say something about putting the wolf there. Instead he simply snorted. The backplate had the same forests etched on it, but instead of the four animals and the fist, it had two thick tubes just between her shoulders that opened downwards, designed to flow into wing designs etched on the surface. At her oblique¡¯s was a set of gold lettering I¡¯d modeled after the font used by the Chapel¡¯s books. ¡®Even as the Light burns the unworthy, it warms the innocent.¡¯ Putting it all together, I moved to place the pauldrons on next. Smaller than normal pauldrons, they were made to protect as much as possible while still giving Katya full range of motion. She tended to favor large flourishes with her sword, and the pauldrons were designed to let her do those without compromising defense. The right arm, her dominant one, had an image of a flower wrapped around a sword, meant to symbolize both the soft and hard aspects of Katya¡¯s personality. Seeing her discuss make-up with Jennifer, study magic and history under Hasha, and fight in the courtyard on the Chapel grounds, had made me realize what a multi-faceted person she was, and the image of the thorny flower wrapping around a sheathed sword was meant to reflect that. I¡¯d asked Jennifer how best to reflect to show the many aspects of Katya, and this was the idea we had come up with. Her gauntlets were much as the same as when she¡¯d last worn them, with only the addition of a fake rune on the top of her hand. Shaped like the symbol of infinity, it served two purposes. First, it looked nice. Second, it would throw off magic users. Those who saw it would be lead to believe the symbol had some sort of purpose, and would try and decipher the rune to disrupt her. If they did, they¡¯d only be wasting their time, and giving Katya a chance to beat them down. Richard¡¯s idea, one that I¡¯d been surprised by. I placed her leg armor on next. Nothing fancy on the outside, just mirror bright chromoly steel covering her thighs, calves, and buttocks. She lifted her feet for me to put on the boots. Then I wrapped her belt around her waist. The belt had a pair of thin chromoly plates covering each hip, and another sheet of carbon hung around it. The thong for her sword sheath hung on the left side, and a set of small pouches with various equipment I thought might be useful for her were woven onto the back. Finally, Richard stepped forward. He took out a black silk scarf embroidered with the symbol of the Chapel in yellow. With a certain amount of gravitas, he wrapped it around her shoulders, then stepped back. ¡°So¡­ how do I look?¡± Katya twirled around for us to look at her. I felt a bit of pride fill me. At the beginning, I¡¯d decided to make her simple armor. But then I kept thinking back to that ridiculous armor she¡¯d been wearing the first time she¡¯d come in. I¡¯d been okay with the idea of her wearing it as ceremonial armor, with my armor being simple battle armor. Except that a certain professional anger had filled me. How could the men who¡¯d made it design something for looks alone, then have the audacity to let others believe it was functional? Well damn them. I¡¯d made Katya armor that was beautiful enough to put the original to shame, while being far more useful. ¡°You look beautiful dearie,¡± Jennifer said kindly. ¡°Formidable as well,¡± Richard rapped Katya¡¯s pauldron, nodding at the dull sound the armor made. ¡°Thank you again,¡± Katya smiled brilliantly at me, then laughed when Mountain licked one of the hip plates. ¡°Not a problem,¡± I turned and picked something up. ¡°By the way, Arthur made this for you.¡± ¡°Arthur?¡± Katya gave him a surprised look. The skinny blacksmith shrugged. ¡°I didn¡¯t know if you had one. And Char told me your last armor was shite, so I figured I¡¯d put some time into it.¡± ¡°He just finished work on one that was half-done,¡± I smiled at the older man, who tried not to look like he was worried about what Katya would think. ¡°But he makes great swords.¡± I handed her the sheathed sword. The longsword was cut to Katya¡¯s preferred length, and rested in a sheath made from horsehide. The hilt was wrapped in the skin of a stingray, a flat animal that lived off the coast of the oceans around Jarvin in the artificial coral reefs. Katya took the blade out of the sheath, eyes brightening at the sight of the shining surface. ¡°I¡¯m not a wizard or anything, so I had Hasha put in the rune for electricity,¡± Arthur nodded to the aforementioned wizard, who grinned, his long ears twitching. ¡°Should help in a good fight. It¡¯s called Stormcall.¡± I groaned. ¡°Ugh, what a horrible name.¡± Arthur punched me in the shoulder, growling in displeasure. ¡°I love it!¡± Katya swung it around. A small burst of electricity came from the blade, and she giggled happily. ¡°Yes! I can¡¯t wait to fight with these!¡± ¡°You¡¯ll get your chance in the morning,¡± Richard looked over at Arthur, Hasha, and I. After a moment of hesitation, he nodded. ¡°I¡¯ve already had your payment ready. You¡¯ve done well, all of you. Thank you.¡± The three of us shared a satisfied smile. ¡°Well!¡± Jennifer clapped her hands. ¡°I think this calls for a celebration! Who wants to go to Allgowlden City? My treat!¡± ¡°Allgowlden City?¡± Katya place her new sheath on her hilt and sheathed her sword. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Richard, in the meantime, paled. Apparently he knew full well that Allgowlden City was Jennifer¡¯s infamous brothel. ¡°Oh, just my little establishment,¡± Jennifer giggled girlishly. ¡°We can go, have some food, drinks, and simply relax and celebrate.¡± ¡°Oh, that sounds great!¡± Katya said. ¡°Maybe I should just take Katya home, let her get some sleep¡­¡± Richard said softly. He looked at Hasha, Arthur, and I for help. The three of us gave him toothish grins, simply watching as he sputtered once more to protect his charge from being corrupted by Jennifer. ¡°Oh, please Richard!¡± Katya clutched her hands before her, eyes wide as she pouted up at him. Mountain stepped alongside her, whining pitifully. Jennifer smirked as Richard slowly broke down under the sad eyes of the girl and dog. ¡°Well, I¡¯ll just send a messenger ahead to let them know we¡¯re on our way, shall I?¡± As she spoke, I looked over in the corner. A helmet lay on a shelf. It was almost finished. It just needed one more rune. One more. I decided to put it off. For now, Katya wasn¡¯t going to get into fights. I could hand it to her before she entered that den of monsters. The helm had nine runes working in concert. One more, and not only would Katya¡¯s armor be truly complete, but I¡¯d qualify for my rune grandmastery. For now, it was time to celebrate. Before we left however, I picked up something. Ever since the assassin, I¡¯d been paranoid. Justifiably I suppose. It only made sense to have something prepared in case of another attack. Stashing my equipment in my satchel, I rushed to join the others. Chapter 7 Allgowlden City was one of the most beautiful buildings I¡¯d ever seen. Jennifer only let me visit when I came of age, and I¡¯d spent my childhood wondering what it was like. Of course, I¡¯d had no idea it was a brothel. Two stories tall, taking up a small space near the docks, it had ivy vines trailing along the walls, cloth drapes on all the doors stained glass windows depicting scenes from history, and of course, the prostitutes that frequented the building. Jennifer hired people of every species and origin to work for her. While those who worked in the more ¡®unsavory¡¯ aspects of her business were beautiful in every sense of the word, she also hired people to cook, serve, and clean. She was all about equal employment, and those who worked for her tended to be safer than they would have been in other cities while doing the same work. That was where we were headed too. Katya rode alongside us on Mountain, finally settling the theory in my mind that he was her mount. The rest of us rode in a carriage, led by a contingent of guards. If any of the armor-clad men and women guarding Katya realized where we were headed, they kept it to themselves. When we got there, a small group of Jennifer¡¯s ¡®employees¡¯ immediately assembled into two lines. Noticeably, all of them were fully dressed. Beautifully dressed of course, with flowing dresses and well pressed shirts and trousers for each person, but at least there were no scandalous sections of skin showing. Apparently Jennifer had warned them that today¡¯s guest of honor was more innocent than most. Richard stepped out first, his face showing relief when he noticed the workers were fully dressed. Katya and Mountain came around the carriage, shocking the workers when the massive dog and armored girl appeared. Jennifer followed, looking as regal as a queen in a flowing green dress that shimmered in the torchlights. Compared to Richard, Katya, and Jennifer, who looked like they were headed to a kings court, Arthur, Hasha, and I stood out thanks to our simple shirts and trousers. I was fine with that. Seeing Katya smiling as people gazed in awe at the beautiful girl wearing the armor set I¡¯d created, I felt a fierce sense of pride. ¡°Come on lad,¡± Arthur grabbed my arm and pulled me along. ¡°And stop smiling like that. We get it, you did well. Now come on.¡± I smirked, but acceded his point. We walked into the brothel, with the workers on each side bowing down as we came. The guards took spots at the door, and I could see more moving off, possibly to defend other areas. Then we entered. The brothel itself had red for a theme, considering the season, with long banners and drapes hanging from the ceiling, plush carpets, cups and plates, and paintings all following this theme. Jennifer liked to change the colors for things like holidays and such. The main lobby only had a small table in the center, rather than the dozens of them that was the norm. Trays of food and drink sat on the table, and two men and three woman stood nearby in simple clothing that flattered their appearance. Unusually, the room was rather empty. ¡°Considering the occasion, I thought it best that we might celebrate alone,¡± Jennifer said. ¡°Probably for the best,¡± Richard agreed. He pulled a chair from the table for Jennifer. She arched an eyebrow, smirked, and sat down. ¡°I¡¯d like for Katya to get an early start tomorrow, so only three hours here.¡± Hasha, with all the elegance Richard had displayed, pulled out a chair for Katya. ¡°I must say, this will be nice,¡± the wizard said as Katya sat with a giggle. ¡°To be able to truly have a chance to talk.¡± ¡°We could have talked at the shop,¡± I grunted. ¡°Eaten there too.¡± ¡°Oh please,¡± Jennifer rolled her eyes. ¡°If it wasn¡¯t for the more refined minds around you, you¡¯d never leave that shop of yours.¡± ¡°Nothing wrong with a bit of work,¡± I said back, reaching out for a pitcher of water. ¡°A bit, yes,¡± Hasha sat down as well. ¡°But too much will turn you into¡­ well, Richard I suppose.¡± ¡°What?¡± the dour-faced man glared at Hasha, then grabbed a cup from Katya¡¯s hand before she could take a sip. He swigged it, waiting a moment, then handed it to her. ¡°She can¡¯t be poisoned,¡± I said with a quirk of my eyebrow when I noticed the motion, Arthur sitting next to me as I did. ¡°She has runes against that in her armor.¡± Richard rolled his eyes. ¡°Light orcling, you say that word too damn much. Runes, runes, runes!¡± ¡°Runes,¡± I said. Katya giggled, then gave her caretaker an innocent look when he turned to her. Richard sighed. ¡°Still, thanks for that.¡± ¡°No problem.¡± As Richard and I tried to pretend we liked each other, Katya was looking around happily. ¡°This place is so beautiful Jennifer!¡± ¡°Why thank you dearie,¡± Jennifer raised her cup. ¡°Well, let¡¯s start with a toast. To the Prophesied Child, and her armorer!¡± ¡°Here here!¡± Arthur, with three bottles of alcohol hidden beside him where Katya couldn¡¯t see them and a poison rune glowing under his shirt, clinked his wooden cup to Jennifer¡¯s. We all joined in, laughing at the enthusiasm in his voice. The cups clinked, and Mountain barked happily. The waiters began revealing food, and the party began in full. ------ ¡°You¡¯re a priest?¡± Arthur asked Richard in shock. Richard frowned. ¡°Why does everyone say that?¡± ¡°Because you act more like a cantankerous old man with anger issues than you do a wise priest?¡± I asked rhetorically. Richard glared at me. I shrugged, not seeing how I was wrong. The three of us had taken on corner of the table, and were eating together. Katya and Jennifer were giggling over something. Considering the two girls, the topic could have been about fighting, fashion, or some new aspect of magic Katya was studying. Mountain and Hasha were talking with each other. I have no idea how, just that the elf and dog were somehow having a discussion. Something very odd about that dog¡­ ¡°It was a requirement of the Chapel,¡± Richard said abruptly. ¡°What was?¡± I turned from my observation of Hasha telling Mountain a story. ¡°Becoming a priest,¡± Richard took a swig of ale. ¡°I was just a soldier. The Arch-Bishop, he made me a priest when I came to teach and protect Katya. Said it was to keep the politicians off my back.¡± ¡°What, the Chapel ain¡¯t above politics?¡± Arthur rasped. Richard scoffed. ¡°Fuck no. There are okay folk, like Father Mitchell and the little one there,¡± He waved to Katya, who was looking over Stormcall with a critical eye as Jennifer spoke to her. ¡°But there¡¯s politics wherever you go.¡± ¡°Not for me,¡± Arthur thumped his chest. ¡°Self-made man. Never had to deal with that shit as a blacksmith.¡± ¡°Lucky you then,¡± Richard shrugged. ¡°I suppose your shop will be busy now, once Katya starts going around in that armor of yours.¡± ¡°As long as no one asks us to make the exact same thing,¡± I winced. ¡°Her armor cost as much as it takes to outfit a small group of soldiers. I still can¡¯t believe you convinced the Chapel to pay for all those reagents and what not.¡± ¡°Perks of being the caretaker,¡± Richard said blithely. ¡°As long as it¡¯s for her protection, I get the full resources of the Chapel in whatever I do.¡± ¡°Must be hard not to misuse that sort of power,¡± I noted. Richard shook his head. ¡°No. Sweet girl like Katya? I¡¯d never do anything that could hurt her.¡± Arthur grunted in seeming approval. On seeing Hasha nod as Mountain growled, I finally rose up and walked over to the elf and dog. Behind me, Arthur and Richard continued to speak. When Hasha noticed me walk up he grinned. ¡°Ah, Char, sit! I was just having a lovely conversation with our dear Mountain.¡± ¡°Yeah, I wanted to ask about that,¡± I looked at Mountain. The giant dog smiled and panted heavily. ¡°Can¡­ he talk?¡± ¡°Oh, not a bit,¡± Hasha smirked. ¡°But I¡¯ve learned a few things. First, his parentage. It turns out, a beast spirit of magic is in his ancestry. Fascinating, isn¡¯t it?¡± I quirked an eyebrow. ¡°Spirits can have children?¡± ¡°In some rare cases,¡± Hasha shrugged. ¡°Well, in truth they simply manipulate the genetic makeup of a fetus after it has been created, giving it a portion of their power, but it amounts to the same thing. I think, when this is all over, we should do some research into Mountain,¡± he gave Mountain a quick smile. ¡°Uh, non-invasive of course.¡± ¡°Speaking of ancestry,¡± I looked at Hasha. ¡°I was wondering what you could tell me about orcs.¡± Hasha¡¯s smile widened. ¡°¡­Come by my workshop tomorrow. I have more than a few texts that might give you some answers, and I can tell you of my own experiences.¡± I blinked. ¡°Just like that?¡±A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°Knowledge only comes when you¡¯re willing to accept it,¡± Hasha nodded. ¡°And you seem willing.¡± Katya suddenly came in and wrapped Mountain in her arms. Well, tried to, her arms were too short. Still the big dog growled in happiness as Katya nuzzled him. ¡°What are you two talking about?¡± Jennifer asked. She held a flute of wine in her off-hand, and was sipping at it as she joined us. ¡°Genetics,¡± Hasha said smoothly. ¡°Ah, Katya, have we looked into genetics yet?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Katya¡¯s voice was muffled against Mountain¡¯s fur, but she still managed to smile with her eyes as she looked around the big dog. ¡°Hm¡­¡± he rubbed his chin. ¡°Seem to burning through subjects quickly.¡± ¡°Yeah, how are you doing that?¡± I asked, my curiosity at the rapid pace of Katya¡¯s learning under Hasha. ¡°Weren¡¯t you teaching her geology yesterday?¡± ¡°Trade secret,¡± Hasha answered simply. ¡°Besides, I¡¯m a wizard. It¡¯s part of our mystique to keep secrets.¡± I smirked at that. After a few more minutes of talking however, I started to feel a bit hot under the collar. ¡°Uh, Jennifer?¡± She turned from where she¡¯d been making fun of Richard for something. ¡°I¡¯m going head outside, get a bit of air.¡± ¡°Oh, well then,¡± she smiled briefly. ¡°Come back soon, okay?¡± I headed for the back door. Walking through the empty kitchen, then through the area where food was stored, I opened the door that led outside, and found myself in an alleyway. An alley very similar to the one I¡¯d been jumped in the day before meeting the Prophesied Child. I took a deep breath of the night air, and licked my right tusk. I felt¡­good. Great even. I¡¯d made the best armor in my life, though I¡¯d need to finish the helmet for Katya later tonight. My friends, new and old, were having fun in the building behind me. And Richard had been right earlier. Ignoring the large commission for making Katya¡¯s armor, creating such an elaborate piece for a high profile client would bring a lot of business for the shop. After all these years, after all the pain, things might finally be getting better. I felt at peace. I stood there, breathing the night air and remembering the best parts of the past days. Even with the random assassin that had tried to kill me, and those knights who¡¯d done the same, there was more good than bad to enjoy. I stood there for about a minute. Then, I turned to enter the brothel again, only to realize the door was locked. I shrugged, and turned to walk around. A crossbow bolt slammed deep into my shoulder. For a moment I didn¡¯t understand what had happened. I looked at the piece of wood that had stabbed into my muscles as I staggered back under the kinetic force of the blow. Then, when the pain struck, I roared, my orc lungs erupting in pain and rage. ¡°Rush him, now!¡± I looked up to see a man in leather armor carrying an empty crossbow yelling at two men wearing steel plate as he reloaded. Two other men in leather armor stood alongside the crossbow user, brandishing knives. As the men in armor rushed me, I felt a sense of familiarity. ¡°Back to normal then,¡± I growled, breaking the bolt in my shoulder away. ------ I reached into my satchel, ripping out the first of the three items I¡¯d brought along for defense. As the men in armor rushed me, I threw the small bag on the ground, mentally activating the rune on it. The bag, tied to rip open on impact, slammed onto the ground and released its contents. A rune of kenaz ignited and exploded the tiny amount of gunpowder inside the bag. The eruption sent shattered the vial in the bag, sending its contents outward in a cloud of vapor. The men in steel armor charged into the cloud. Then they stopped. The wind was still, so I wasn¡¯t getting a full dose. But I knew what they were feeling. The acidic feel of the vapor on their skin. The sudden realization as I watched their eyes widen. And finally, the smell. That horrendous, mind shattering smell. ¡°Skunk oil,¡± I explained to the paling pair of men. ¡°Don¡¯t leave home without it.¡± Then the screaming started. They fell to the ground, clawing at their eyes and noses, trying to crawl away. The three men in leather stared at their friends in shock as they rolled on the ground. I reached into my satchel, grabbing another item from it. The crossbow user, seeing me move, aimed his crossbow, but switched to grabbing a knife at his belt when he remembered he hadn¡¯t reloaded. I had time to realize he was an elf with dark hair before a knife spun towards me. I ducked, feeling the blade fly above me, and quickly aimed my second tool. A simple tube, attached to a handle with a massive lever jutting out of it. A variation on the gauntlet that I had killed Andrea with, the weapon was made of scavenged parts, and only in a brief window of time while making Katya¡¯s armor. It would probably break after one use. But I only needed one use. I aimed roughly at the elf and fumbled for the lever. With a suddenness that surprised me, the lever pulled back. The recoil of the weapon was followed by the sight of the elf yelping. He fell back, then screamed in horror when he saw the mess that had been his thigh. The single round that I¡¯d fired had slammed into his right leg, turning the meat into something like a paste. ¡°Shit,¡± I stared at the now useless weapon in my hand. ¡°Not much accuracy.¡± On the inside, I was relieved. I hadn¡¯t killed him. I reached into my satchel again. The elf¡¯s friends in leather armor stared at me in horror as I brought out my last tool. A dagger. A simple, curved dagger. No runes, not even a particularly special one. Just something sharp that Richard had taught me how to fight with. As adrenaline filled me, I glared at the last two. ¡°There are two ways this can go. We fight, and I kill you,¡± with the growling dark tones of my voice, I could tell both men believed me, ¡°or you run, and we never see each other again.¡± Both men shared a look. Slowly as their friends screamed in pain on the floor, they took a step back. Then they looked behind me. The way they sighed in relief brought a cold feeling into the pit of my stomach. I looked behind me. From the other end of the alley, ten more men were rushing. As I watched, two of them pointed crossbows at me. ¡°Oh come on,¡± I growled under my breath. Then two bolts slammed into me, both in my right pectoral.. I shouted, taking a step back as pain once more blossomed in my chest. The men rushed towards me as the crossbowmen reloaded. One man swung at me with his longsword, his armor shining in the dim light. In a quick move, I parried the blade with my large dagger, grabbed the man by the arm and pulled him close. He yelped before I lifted him up and threw him at his friends. I caught his blade as it fell, leaving me with a longsword in one hand and a dagger in the other. I roared at the men facing me. As my lungs and throat shook with the force of my voice them, their eyes widened. They backed away slowly, fear on their faces. At first, I wondered if they¡¯d actually decided superior numbers and weaponry wasn¡¯t enough. Then I noticed the shadow at my feet lengthening thanks to a new source of light behind me. I turned around. ¡°Ugh,¡± falling to the ground, one of the two men that had been behind me fell. The other was already out. Katya glowed with power. She glared at the men facing me. ¡°You will not touch him.¡± ¡°Oh thank god,¡± I sighed in relief. ¡°The Child,¡± the man I¡¯d thrown whispered. ¡°Get them!¡± A very suicidal man cried out. He charged forward, his friends rallying behind him. Katya jumped upwards. Twin jets of flame erupted from her back, shooting her up higher as she cried out. For the first time I¡¯d ever seen her in a fight, she seemed angry. Not giggling or smiling, but almost snarling. On the apex of her leap, she drew out Stormcall. The sword, glowing with electricity, sliced as it came down. She landed on top of the suicidal man with a loud ¡®crunch!¡¯ As he fell under her, she rolled, dodging a slash, and came up to stab one man in the shoulder. Stormcall blazed, and the man screamed at the electricity pouring through him. The man who¡¯d slashed at her tried to attack her from behind. So I grabbed him by the back of his armor just as he stepped forward, lifted him up, and slammed him into the ground the way Richard had taught me. I spun and roared, by tusks flashing in the light. Katya cried out. Somewhere behind us, I heard Mountain barking, and Richard and Jennifer yelling. Katya and I charged the group. One of the crossbowmen fired at Katya¡¯s chest. I felt a burst of pride when the bolt bounced off her armor, not even scratching the finish. Katya responded by creating a rope of Light and pulling the man in. She slashed into his thigh, sending him screaming to the ground as electricity flowed over him, and blood poured from his wound. I clumsily dealt with another attacker, blocking his blade with my purloined longsword, then simply tackling him. He took out a dagger and stabbed it into my leg before my massive weight slammed him into a wall. Two men stepped towards Katya, trying to attack her as one. But they had none of the skill of any of the knights who had tried that before. Whereas Katya now had my armor strengthening and speeding up her body in every way, and Stormcall as well. In a few bursts of Light and electricity, the men were on the ground and whimpering. Four men were left standing. The others were out. Two were lying on the ground soaked in concentrated skunk oil, knocked unconscious by the strong smell. One man was bleeding from a massive thigh wound cause by my weapon. Six had been directly knocked out by Katya, two by me. I came up behind Katya as she flourished Stormcall. We both glared at the last four men. They took a step back. I growled. Katya stepped forward. They ran. As they did, I heard footsteps behind me. I turned, thinking it was Mountain, Richard, and the others. Instead, I saw men in city guard uniforms running towards us. About twenty men in all. One of them, apparently the officer in charge, stared around in shock at the groaning men, his face filling with disgust when he passed the spot my skunk oil bomb had exploded. Then he noticed me. ¡°D-Don¡¯t move!¡± At his shout, the other guards swung their blades to point at me. I stepped back, hands up in a placating gesture. ¡°What¡¯s going on!?¡±Katya stepped around me to look at the group. ¡°Miss, step away from the orc before he kills you!¡± one of the guards yelled. ¡°He¡¯s my friend!¡± Katya sheathed Stormcall, frowning. ¡°Those men tried to kill him!¡± ¡°Lady Katya!¡± Behind the guards circling us, Richard, Jennifer, Hasha, Arthur, and Mountain ran up. As the massive form of Mountain came up, a few of the guards panicked, pointing between orc and dog as they tried to decide which was more dangerous. Richard came up to Katya, only for the officer in charge of guards to stop him. ¡°Sir, I need you step back!¡± ¡°I am Richard Dedicat of Chapel of Valor, and I demand to know why you are pointing swords at the Prophesied Child!¡± Richard seemed ready to start cutting people apart, and the officer in charge flinched. ¡°T-The Child?¡± one of the guards said. They all stared at Katya, who frowned back. Unlike her usual pouts, there was something vicious in her appearance now. ¡°Sir, we need to take the orc into custody,¡± the officer gestured at the men on the ground. ¡°If he attacked these men¡ª¡± ¡°He didn¡¯t attack them, they tried to kill him!¡± Katya protested. Mountain came up to her and glared at the guards. ¡°Were you there from the start?¡± the officer asked. Katya blinked. ¡°W-Well, no, but¡ª¡± ¡°I was defending myself,¡± I cut in. ¡°Be that as it may sir, I still need to take you in for questioning. And a few of these men will need medical attention,¡± Katya frowned, and the officer hastened to continue. ¡°T-THe Orcling as well of course. We''ll get him patched up. We won¡¯t charge him for anything, but we need to know what happened. If they did attack him, then we need to know why.¡± ¡°¡­Then you¡¯re taking me in too.¡± ¡°What,¡± I said, staring at Katya. She nodded firmly. ¡°I was attacked as well, and I took out more of these men than Char did. You need to arrest me.¡± The officer stared at her, as Richard¡¯s eye twitched. I could see the others standing behind the line of guards, watching. Jennifer quirked an eyebrow at the way things were going. Arthur was clenching his fists, looking like he was half a second from simply attacking the guards. Hasha¡¯s face showed no emotion whatsoever, but his eyes seemed to gleam in the light of Katya¡¯s still glowing form. ¡°You cannot arrest the Prophesied Child!¡± Richard roared. The officer¡¯s eyes narrowed. ¡°Sir, you may be a member of the Chapel, but I am a city guard officer. These two were involved in an altercation with twelve men who are in need of medical attention. I am required by law to take them all in for questioning. Now, I¡¯ll have them treated well, as I would any other citizen, but I need to take them in.¡± Richard looked like he was ready to yell again. But then he looked at Katya. She stared into his eyes, unyielding. The look they shared was full of something I couldn¡¯t define. When it was over, Richard nodded. The officer breathed out in relief. He gestured, and two guards came up with chains. Katya held out her hands, and chains were placed more gently than should have been possible. Mine were put on with just as much respect, and we were guided to a carriage made of hard wood, with iron bars over the windows. Stormcall was taken by the officer. After a moment of hesitation, he handed the longsword to Richard, who took it without a word. Mountain whined, moving to follow us, only for Richard step in front of him. The dog gave Katya a heartbreaking look, then sat on his haunches, whining. As I passed Arthur, Jennifer, and Hasha, I gave them a nod. Arthur closed his eyes, his fists tightening further. Hasha and Jennifer shared a glance. Then Katya and I were in the carriage, sitting on roughly hewn benches. The officer followed with two guards. I heard someone yell outside, then felt the carriage shudder under us. I tried to get a last glimpse of the others, but only saw the massive form of Mountain. He reared his head back and howled towards the sky as we were taken away. Chapter 8 ¡°How dare they!?¡± Katya walked back and forth, pacing the floor with more anger than I¡¯ve ever seen. Usually as adorable as a puppy, the tiny girl before me suddenly had all the ferocity of pacing tigress. For a moment, I worry about the cell around us. I¡¯d seen what she could do on a relaxed occasion. Now, with my armor boosting her power, in a rage? For a moment I looked at the metal bars, marking the weak spots left in construction of them. Yes, if she wished it, escape would be easy. We¡¯d been taken to the nearest guard station to Allgowlden City, and placed in a cell about an hour ago. The men we¡¯d beaten had been taken into an infirmary, and moved to cells of their own as they were healed. But our cell was in a different section of the building, so I only knew that from seeing each of the men getting escorted through the hallway in front of the cell. The cell itself was rather sparse in terms of amenities, though that was normal for cells I supposed. Two beds, and a smelly bucket to shit in, with no privacy or real space. Katya was pacing as best she could however, despite the small area. I closed my eyes again, going into a meditative state. I slowed my breathing, simply feeling the molten core of my magic pulse. After a moment, Katya seemed unable to contain herself. ¡°Char!¡± I looked at her, blinking. She was still angry, huffing. ¡°Why is this happening!? You didn¡¯t do anything! Why did those men attack you? Why did the guard want to arrest you?¡± Oy. She really was upset. ¡°You¡­ know I¡¯m a half-orc, right?¡± She frowned angrily. ¡°That¡¯s stupid then! The Word says to love all the children of the world! ¡®Be they of forest, stone, or plain, love all the children, for they are those who can be forgiven once repentant.¡¯¡± ¡°Technically, orcs originate from deserts,¡± I replied wryly. ¡°Not too many forests there. Lots of stone though, and maybe a couple of plains, so¡ª¡± ¡°That¡¯s not funny!¡± She said with a glare. When I shrugged, she just seemed more confused. ¡°I don¡¯t understand. Aren¡¯t you angry? They¡¯re trampling over your rights! They¡¯re¡­They¡¯re racists!¡± I stared at her. Then, I nodded. ¡°I am extremely offended. Confused as well, to how around twenty men knew where I was, or how those guards assembled so quickly. But as angry as I am, staying calm is the best decision.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Because I am half-human too,¡± I said softly. ¡°All the things they say about me? None of it makes sense with what I know about myself. I show traits that races across Turab have. I''m a good blacksmith, a magic user, and I''m physically strong. None of these are truly ''orcish'' or ''human'' traits. No matter what they claim, neither half of my blood has any true hold over me. I cannot control how they respond to me. In fact, I would not want such a power if offered,¡± I smiled. ¡°But I can control myself. I will never let them push the image of a mindless monster onto me if I can help it.¡± In the end, a lot of my life was based around that. My studies in magic, my attempts to be polite in the face of rudeness, even my tools. ¡°I will defend myself against violence. But I am not the brainless, violent monster they paint me as. If I must die proving that I am who I choose to be, then I will. I know I am. And sometimes, in the toughest moments like these, that is enough.¡± It was quiet. Then Katya nodded. She sat down on the bed next to me. Then she leaned over to rest her head against my shoulder. I was surprised for a moment, but that left when she spoke. ¡°I worry about you. This is the second time someone has tried to kill you. What if no one can stop the next time?¡± I chuckled. ¡°You¡¯re worried? What about me? My best friend is going to go fight giant monsters and save the world. What if you get hurt because of that?¡± She giggled. ¡°I¡¯m the Prophesied Child dummy. I can¡¯t die, remember? I¡¯m fated to win¡­It¡¯s easy to be brave when you know you¡¯ll win.¡± Something about the way she said it¡­ her voice, the inflection of her tone. I almost asked what was wrong, when she giggled again. ¡°I can¡¯t believe we got arrested in the back alley of a brothel.¡± My eyes bulged. ¡°Wait¡­ you knew?¡± She giggled again at my reaction. ¡°Of course I did! Jennifer told me what she did the first time we met! I just wanted to see if Richard would let me go. Light, the look on his face!¡± I thought of the look on Richard¡¯s face when he realized he¡¯d have to escort Katya to the most (in)famous brothel in the city. For some reason I laughed. That set Katya to giggling, which made me laugh harder. After a moment of this, we simply sat there, her small body leaning against mine. ¡°So you really don¡¯t have a problem with Jennifer¡¯s job? I thought the Light had some pretty heavy things to say about whoring.¡± ¡°¡­No. I mean, it¡¯s not right to sell your body. But I know some people feel like they have no choice, or they get forced into it. Jennifer said she makes sure they can stop when they want to, and she keeps them safe. I won¡¯t hate someone for doing what they can to survive. The Word tells never to judge others for their lifestyles, only to provide an example and a better path. Well, except for those who hurt the innocent and those who have done them no wrong.¡± ¡°Good policy,¡± I noted. We didn¡¯t talk after that. Just sat together, letting the minutes pass. I was half-asleep when something finally happened. After a while of waiting, the far door opened. When someone stepped inside, we looked at him. I¡¯d expected the officer who arrested us, or maybe his superior. But what we got was worse. Katya¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Oh no.¡± I understood the feeling. We both rose to look at our visitor. He wore flowing white robes. His head was balding. His green eyes seemed to gleam in the low light. His face was craggy and wrinkled, but full of an ancient strength. And he wore a white version of Katya¡¯s white scarf. The Leader of the Chapel of Valor, the Arch-Bishop, the Child of Prophecies teacher, glowered at us. ¡°Explain.¡± He said, his voice as cold as ice. ------ If the Prophesied Child is the prophet of the Light, then the Arch-Bishop is the one who decides what that means. Standing before us was the spiritual and political leader of Humans, Dwarves, and more than a few Elves. And he was glaring at us, his eyes especially hard on me. I looked between Katya and the Arch-Bishop, the short girl in the shining silver armor and black carbon sheets I¡¯d given her, the Arch-Bishop in his white robes. Standing across from each other, they looked like polar opposites in every way. Somehow I got the feeling that where Katya had gotten her kind nature from, it wasn¡¯t this man. ¡°Well?¡± His voice was soft, dangerous. ¡°How is it that, on the day I come to watch as my Prophesied Child begin her first steps on the road to saving us all, I hear that she has been arrested?¡± asked the Arch-Bishop. He looked over at me, green eyes hard, then ignored me. ¡°Those men tried to kill Char!¡± Katya protested. ¡°I didn¡¯t hurt them badly, I just had to stop them!¡± ¡°Hmf,¡± scoffed the Arch-Bishop. A pair of guards and the officer who¡¯d arrested us stepped in through the same door he¡¯d entered. He nodded at them, and one of the guards stepped forward with some keys. ¡°Well, Chris here,¡± he nodded at the officer, ¡°has agreed that his arrest was rather hasty. Now come. If you are to be ready for the den then we will have to leave immediately.¡± The guard gave the officer a hesitant look. The officer nodded at the guard. ¡°Do it, Jeremy,¡± the guard nodded and moved to unlock the cell door. ¡°Come along,¡± the Arch-Bishop turned to walk away. Katya followed nervously. As she stepped out, the guard hurriedly closed the cell behind her. ¡°Wait,¡± Katya spun around, eyes wide at the sight of me getting locked back into the cell. ¡°What about Char!?¡± ¡°Katya!¡± the Arch-Bishop spun around to look at her, his ancient eyes glowing. ¡°Come along or you will be punished!¡± ¡°No!¡± the explosion of Light that came from her sent even me, with my massive weight, back a step. The guards and officer were sent flying. Only the Arch-Bishop was unscathed, though I could tell from the way his jaw-dropped that he was shocked. ¡°Let him out!¡± ¡°Y-You dare¡ª¡± the Arch-Bishop stuttered. ¡°He is my friend,¡± Katya glared at him. Motes of Light magic floated around her. ¡°I will not leave him.¡± ¡°¡­you have to,¡± everyone spun to look at me. I met eyes with Katya. ¡°You need to go to the den of monsters. There¡¯s a prophecy that needs to be fulfilled.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t leave you!¡± Katya protested. ¡°You aren¡¯t. I made sure of that,¡± I nodded at her armor. ¡°As long as you have that, I¡¯ll know I¡¯m keeping you safe,¡± I smirked when she seemed ready to argue. ¡°Go. Come back for me once you¡¯ve won. I can handle a day or two in prison. But you need to get there as fast as possible, and arguing about my release will take too long. Go. Be a hero.¡± ¡°¡­I¡¯ll be back, Char,¡± Katya turned, walking away. She stopped in front of the Arch-Bishop. She glared up at the taller man for moment. He stared back at her. Then, with a shudder, the leader of thousands stepped aside. Katya marched out of the room. The Arch-Bishop stared after her as she left. Then he turned towards me. ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯ve done to corrupt my Prophesied Child, orc,¡± the last word was said with more hatred than I had ever heard in my life, which was saying something, ¡°but it ends today. There will be no misguided attempts to save a pathetic monster. I will have you executed for this!¡± ¡°For self-defense?¡± I said stoically. ¡°The magistrate isn¡¯t well known for executing men for such things.¡± The Arch-Bishop scoffed. ¡°You think the magistrate will have a choice? The Prophesied Child is coming into her full potential. Even with your corruption, she is still an influential person. The magistrate will gladly kill you if it is her order.¡± ¡°Katya wouldn¡¯t do that.¡± He smirked. ¡°Oh, I think you¡¯ll find that a word or two on her behalf will do the job. A simple message about how a certain orc corrupted her, and how she has now seen the Light? And you¡¯ll be facing the axe soon enough. And she might be angry for a day or two. But once I¡¯ve made it clear where her interests must lie, smacked some sense into that thick head of hers? I will have my Prophesied Child back.¡± He turned to walk away, seemingly satisfied. ¡°You aren¡¯t a very smart man, are you?¡± He froze. I could see him clench a fist. ¡°What did you say?¡± ¡°Kill me if you like. But I think whatever you wish for Katya has long since been destroyed. See, I didn¡¯t corrupt her. I didn¡¯t do anything. She¡¯s a sweet, tough, and smart person. All of that is because of her. I didn¡¯t do a thing. And you preparing to ¡®smack some sense¡¯ into her?¡± I smirked. ¡°Even if she doesn¡¯t kick your ass, more than a few people would be willing to do it for her.¡± He spun around, his hand raising. A green glow came from his hand, and he snarled as he prepared to kill me. I glared at him, not moving an inch. The guards, who had risen to their feet by now, stared at the ancient Arch-Bishop, now aiming a spell at me. ¡°¡­Entropy magic?¡± I quirked an eyebrow as I watched the green lights flickering about his fingers. ¡°Interesting choice for a priest.¡± ¡°¡­When you die, I will make sure none will even remember you exist,¡± with that final word, he waved his hand, dismissing the odd magic he¡¯d summoned. Then he turned and left. The officer gaped, then moved to follow with one of the guards, leaving the one who¡¯d opened the door. ¡°Well,¡± the guard said with a swallow. ¡°That was pretty intense.¡± I nodded slowly, unwilling to admit how close I had probably come to death. The Arch-Bishop had seemed¡­ wrong. The way he¡¯d spoken had been manic. His eyes wide, almost glowing, the fast speech. And then of course, there was the magic he¡¯d used. Something was very wrong with the Arch-Bishop. Something more than hatred for a half-orc. Not that it mattered. Apparently he¡¯d be trying his best to kill me soon. I had hope that Katya and Richard might be able to stop that, but it was a large worry. For now, I¡¯d wait. The cell was uncomfortable, and I was hungry, but waiting here was my best choice. I sat down on the bed. The guard took a seat on an old chair in the corner. And then, I waited. ------ It had been an hour since Katya left. In the distance, I could hear loud cheers. Katya was off to kill her monsters. A bell rang loudly a few blocks from the station, filling the air with it¡¯s merry chimes. I closed my eyes and began to pray. Or try at least. I prayed for Katya to do her best. For my family, Arthur, Hasha, Mountain, Jennifer, and even Richard, to be safe in my absence. As I prayed, I could feel the guard watching me. When I opened my eyes, he spoke. ¡°Char, right?¡± I blinked, looking up at the guard, but focusing on the ceiling at last minute. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°No last name?¡± he asked curiously. ¡°¡­Com. Char Com.¡± ¡°Weird name,¡± he said with a small smile. ¡°I didn¡¯t exactly pick it.¡± ¡°Hmm. Well, I¡¯m Jeremy. J to my friends.¡± I quirked an eyebrow. ¡°You this friendly with all your prisoners Jeremy?¡± He chuckled. ¡°No. Actually you¡¯re the first prisoner since I got this job. And please, call me J.¡± I chuckled as well. ¡°Have to say,¡± he said after a bit of silence. ¡°It¡¯s odd, meeting you.¡± ¡°Never met a half-orc before?¡± ¡°Well¡­ no, I guess I haven¡¯t,¡± he shrugged. ¡°But that¡¯s not why this is odd.¡± He didn¡¯t say anything else. After a moment I decided to ask. ¡°Why is this odd?¡± ¡°Well, I honestly had no plans to meet you. It¡¯s bad business, meeting the man you¡¯ve hired assassins to kill.¡± I tried to look at Jeremy for a moment, but ended up staring at the ground. I didn¡¯t understand what he meant first. Then it struck me like bull at full speed. ¡°You hired Andrea?¡± ¡°Well, yes. But she was the second attempt, after the other one failed. Though I admit, I was surprised when I heard she was killed. I didn¡¯t think you were the type. In fact, I still don¡¯t. Was it a spur-of-the-moment type thing?¡± For a moment, blue eyes shone in a dark workshop as a gauntlet unleashed hell. I flinched. He nodded out of the corner of my eyes. ¡°I understand. First kills are¡­ well, they¡¯re always tough to get past. Some people, they learn to enjoy killing. Others never do it again. And some accept it as a necessary evil. I think that, like me, you¡¯ll see it as the last.¡± ¡°Is that what I am?¡± I still couldn¡¯t look at him. ¡°A necessary evil?¡± He laughed, a sick, sad sound. ¡°Believe it or not, yes. You see, the day you were hired to make Katya¡¯s armor, I looked into you. There wasn¡¯t much. Half-orcs tend to be ignored if they aren¡¯t outright killed in this city. But I found somethings. Not many people bought things made by you, but those who did were willing to admit you do good work. All of which said you were a pretty solid blacksmith. Nothing that spoke of your real potential of course. But enough to make you a danger.¡± ¡°Katya,¡± I said under my breath. ¡°You didn¡¯t want me making armor for her.¡± ¡°Yep,¡± Jeremy, out of the corner of my eye, leaned back in his chair. ¡°I managed to slip a bit of money to her first armorers convince them to make her ceremonial armor. From there, I just went around and made sure no one knew she didn¡¯t have any real armor. By the day of final ceremony, she¡¯d enter the cave wearing beautiful and very crap armor, and die.¡± ¡°Why?¡± I shook my head. ¡°Just business,¡± he shrugged. ¡°I was hired to make sure she died. And I had a few connections inside the Chapel of Valor. I¡¯d had everything set up. Then, she runs away in the middle of her big reveal. Heads out into the city. And reaches a small shop to hide inside.¡± He chuckled. ¡°I¡¯d wager you were the only occupied building in the city on that day, or one of the few. She must have knocked on a few doors before finding yours. And so, you were, to my complete surprise, hired. My employers couldn¡¯t have that. Even half-decent armor might have ended up saving her life.¡± ¡°Why are you telling me this?¡± I asked suddenly. He raised a finger to his lips. ¡°Just listen. I¡¯ll explain once I¡¯m done,¡± his smile became a bit bitter. ¡°I don¡¯t like this, but I¡¯ll push through it,¡± still out of the corner of my eyes, he rose and began pacing back and forth. ¡°So. I had to stack the deck and make sure Katya would die in the den of monsters. But how to do that? Well, my attempt to begin with giving her crap equipment failed. But I decided to attack her new armorer. I hired a group of knights who were just dumb enough to do the job, and skilled enough to succeed. You ended up beating the crap out of them, but I was fine with that. I had Andrea watching from a different location, so that she could see your full capabilities. If they failed, then Andrea would be able to use her knowledge to come up with a plan of her own. ¡°While Andrea gathered her resources, I went another route, and had someone convince an official to start searching out assassins in the market by demanding identification from random passerby. You see the irony? Hiring an assassin, then having someone search for one too?¡± he chuckled. ¡°But, Richard Dedicat apparently shut that down. Something of a pattern I was beginning to recognize. So I put something else in the works. ¡°On the night Andrea was moving in for the kill, I had a group of men and women shut down the pass to the mountain with a fake landslide. While the Chapel hired people to clean it, we moved into the den itself and began preparing it,¡± he stopped pacing. When he spoke again, he sounded sad. ¡°Of course, then I heard that Andrea died. Her bosses keep charms linked to their assassins, and hers exploded when she died. Very sad. But I had to continue. ¡°I stopped all attempts at killing you,¡± when my eyes widened, he chuckled. ¡°Well, it wasn¡¯t working after all! I was trying to make it seem like an act of racial hate, so having armed thugs or random assassins attack you would have worked, but apparently only a cannonball exploding your house would have done the job. Not the best way to do things. No, I had another plan ready to go. I was all set to leave you alone. ¡°And then I saw you standing in a back alley as I was on my way to work,¡± he laughed. ¡°I mean, what a coincidence! All this time trying to kill you, and there you were!¡± I scowled. He shrugged in the corner of my vision. ¡°Well, it was funny to me, but I understand why you¡¯d be less amused. Anywho,¡± he sat down once again, ¡°there a well-known group of thugs that live in the area around Allgowlden City. I swung by with a sack of gold and sent them running,¡± he grimaced. ¡°Not the most professional people. Seemed more excited to kill an ¡®orc¡¯ than get paid. But they caused enough of a ruckus that I could justify calling in a few of the guard to check out the commotion,¡± he tapped his armor. ¡°As you can see, I have some connections among them as well.¡± ¡°¡­this won¡¯t work,¡± he raised an eyebrow. ¡°Your plan. I¡¯ve already finished the armor. Whether I live or die, Katya is going to win. More than that, she¡¯s the Prophesied Child. She is guaranteed to win,¡± I shrugged. ¡°Kill me, don¡¯t kill me. You lost.¡± ¡°And that brings us to the crux of the matter,¡± he slid the chair forward. ¡°First, I want you to know I respect you.¡± I tried to look at him skeptically, but failed. Still, he must have noticed it. ¡°No, I really do. You, Hasha, Arthur, Katya, Richard. See, I¡¯ve been watching you. Sometimes directly, sometimes through proxies, and sometimes through spells. I¡¯ve seen you at work. You do good work. I have a group of people working for me that do nothing but research magic, and they haven¡¯t come up with some of the ideas that you have,¡± he shook his head. ¡°But it¡¯s all useless for Katya. Because even as strong as she is, there is one fact against her.¡± ¡°There is no prophecy.¡± I froze. ¡°Yeah. The Prophesied Child? No such thing.¡± ¡°That¡­ that can¡¯t be¡ª¡± ¡°True?¡± he shrugged. ¡°It is. I was hired because of that fact. My employers want her to die in that den, sending the followers of the Chapel into disarray, and causing disarray. With the combination of the plague years back, it¡¯ll take decades to return things to normal. From there, it¡¯ll be easy to affect real change as my employers prefer.¡± ¡°How can you know that!?¡± I tried to look at him again, but my found eyes sliding away. ¡°And why can¡¯t I look at you!?¡± ¡°Well, those reasons are related,¡± he said softly. ¡°See, Katya is one of several people who were set up to become the ¡®Prophesied Child¡¯. I was one of them.¡± My shock made him laugh. ¡°The Chapel had to keep their followers together after the plague after all. Do you know how much it burned them, to realize that group of dedicated wizards from multiple religions solved the problem, rather than their own priests of light?¡± I listened closely, my mind clicking the pieces together as he spoke. ¡°So they came up with the ¡®prophecy¡¯. Just vague enough to allow some flexibility, but speaking of a great hero who would save us all. A new hope, solidifying their hold over their people. They took in children, orphans, and raised them to believe in the Chapel. And if they failed to stand up to their standards, they were pushed aside, and the other children were given more love.¡± He waved a hand. And suddenly I could look at him. We met eyes. He wasn¡¯t a big man. But he looked like a fighter. A single scar rested on his cheek. Blue eyes looked into mine, reminding me of Andrea. His hair was pulled into a ponytail like my own, but colored the same blonde as Katya. ¡°I¡¯m a failed Prophesied Child,¡± he smiled sadly. ¡°Had a bit of talent in illusions, and a bit of skill in tactical thinking. I can make people decide I¡¯m not worth getting a good look at,¡± he winced. ¡°Damn it. If I wasn¡¯t getting paid so much¡­¡± He shook his head. ¡°So, right. Katya can lose. So the Chapel tried their best to keep her from doing it. They gave her incredible training, teachers from everywhere, but kept her away from more dangerous learnings. Only physical abilities and the basics. She excelled of course. Their plan was to create a warrior who could prove herself if she had to, but would be kept out of the way otherwise. An invisible idol. He gestured somewhere to the north. ¡°The den of monsters was part of that. Just an empty cave at first. Then the Chapel put in a bear, a small manticore, and a wyvern. Weak beings, poisoned slowly to become pathetic. Easy to kill. But any idiot looking at the corpse afterwards would believe they were tough opponents worthy of the Prophesied Child,¡± he shook his head. ¡°When we set off the landslide, we changed all that. My personal army of mercenaries are waiting for her, armed with magic and trained to kill. I included some beasts of my own, full grown monsters. She is walking into a den expecting victory, expecting a prophecy and her new armor to protect her.¡± He sighed. ¡°Sad really. She seemed nice.¡± ¡°¡­Why tell me all this?¡± I said, my mind reeling from all these sudden reveals. ¡°I don¡¯t know!¡± he spat to the side. ¡°My damn employer they¡­ The smart thing to do is to leave things as they are. Leave you in the cell, let Katya die. Instead, I¡¯ve been paid double to tell you everything!¡±This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°What?¡± I blinked. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°That was my reaction!¡± He rose up, enraged. ¡°It¡¯s idiotic! No man, no smart man, tells someone their plans before they¡¯ve come to fruition!¡± he clenched his fist. ¡°As a business man, I can¡¯t turn down that much money. But as a tactician, I¡¯ve never heard of something so stupid.¡± He looked at me. ¡°See Char, I respect you. But I¡¯m not an idiot. So I am not, as my employer asked, going to let you go. It¡¯s been what, an hour and some minutes since she left? You might have enough time to catch her, if you run,¡± he shrugged once more, frowning. ¡°I¡¯ve done my job. I¡¯ve told you the truth. It¡¯s nothing personal Char. But I need to make sure she dies.¡± He turned to walk out. As he walked I felt the molten steel core of my magic seem to hum. All that he¡¯d told me, one thing stood out. Katya was walking into a trap. My friend, the sweetest person I ever met, was in the center of a conspiracy that would kill her. ¡°I¡¯m going to stop you,¡± the words were whispered. But Jeremy stopped. He looked over at me. I stared at him, knowing my eyes were changing to the orchis amber that reflected my rage. ¡°¡­You know, I actually hope you do,¡± he sighed. ¡°I¡¯ve been paid already. And gods, I hate my employers. So, as much as it¡¯s unprofessional of me¡­ I hope you shut down those idiots. Be a nice bit of catharsis, seeing those morons get their comeuppance.¡± He turned to bow. As he did, I felt my eyes slip away. ¡°It was nice meeting you Char. Hopefully the next time I see you will be under better circumstances.¡± I heard him leave. Then I rose from the bed. Time to go to work. ------ Resources, and time. Those are all I needed to be dangerous. But in that small cell, I had little of either. There was two ratty old beds made of a crap mattress and metal frame, the clothes on my back, and the bars of my cell. As for time, I had little of it. I had to get out, find out where the den was, and warn someone that Katya was walking into a trap. All before she could step inside. Damn it, why hadn¡¯t I asked any questions about the procedures for the damned den!? I pushed away my frustration. I pushed away my fears, my anger, and my sadness. All of it was useless. I needed cold logical thought. Planning, not emotion, would get me out of this. I had metal. Metal framed beds, metal cell bars. My body. My orchish strength, and my magic. The stone beneath my feet, rough to the touch. And one more thing. I picked up the bucket meant to serve as a toilet. I wrinkled my nose, then touched the wood. Oak. Good, strong, solid oak, wrapped in an iron band to keep it together. More than enough. ------ First, I wrapped the bucket in the thin mattress and shattered it in my hands, using the mattress to muffle the noise. Once I was done, I had a group of thin shards of woods. Smelly wood, but wood nonetheless. I gathered the wood and carefully used one of my tusks to open a cut in my hand. Without any real reagents, my blood would have to do for my runes. Then I ripped a section of the bed, wrapping the cheap cloth around a piece of wood. I wrote out kenaz on the piece of wood just below the wrapped cloth, going as carefully as I could. It took around two minutes to make sure it was perfect. Then, flooding the rune with the molten heat of my magic, I watched the piece of wood ignite and set the cloth alight. Now I had fire. And my time was getting shorter. Soon, someone would smell the smoke. I had to hurry. Fire powered by a rune gets hot faster than most do, while using less of the heat. Working with the fire, I quickly burned one of the other wooden shards, creating charcoal in bare seconds thanks to the insane het of my unstable flame. Mixing it with my blood, I quickly cauterized my bleeding cut once I was done, pushing down my rage. With the charcoal mixed with blood, I now had a very crap reagent. Good enough for this however. The runes I¡¯d create would be unstable. But that was fine. Grabbing the iron band that the bucket had been wrapped by, and another ripped section of the bed, I scratched out the rune for ¨±ruz. The rune of untapped potential and strength, this was the rune I¡¯d used to enhance Katya¡¯s strength and speed. Then I connected it to the rune for laguz. The rune of flow, of water, and of renewal of health. ?- ¨±ruz Laguz Then I placed the iron band at my waist and wrapped it with the cloth, leaving it unused for now. Next I flipped one of the beds over on its side and quickly scratched out the rune for algiz. Used for defense and protection in most cases, I¡¯d used it before to create many things, including the defenses for Katya¡¯s armor. ?- Algiz It was terrible. I felt a hint of shame underneath the cold logic that had controlled me, looking at the runes I¡¯d made. No precision, more liable to fail than usual. But I had no time. Leaving the bed with the flat facing the door, I did the same half-assed rune on the other. Then it was time for the door. Outside, I could hear people running. I moved quickly, grabbing my blood soaked charcoal and smearing it on the doors. This time I didn¡¯t specify the runes. I slapped the most volatile runes I could think of, moving quickly. I could hear footsteps coming closer, and worked as sloppily as I could. Once done, I hopped behind the beds. For a moment, I hesitated. Then I activated the runes on the door. Fifteen sloppily created runes, made of crap reagents, attached to cold metal cell door. Only chaos could follow. And as someone stepped inside, that¡¯s exactly what happened. The explosion that followed as violent magic clashed made my ears ring. The beds held for a moment, the algiz symbol glowing a bright yellow as it absorbed the destructive force. Then, as I watched, the rune closest to me slowly disintegrated. Then I felt the beds fling me back. I screamed. A sharp pain came from my chest. The world was nothing but noise and light. Then it stopped. For a moment, I simply breathed, feeling pain all over my body. I coughed, a bit of blood coming from my lips. Slowly, I reached for the iron band on my waist. The molten heat of my magic filled the two runes. ¨±ruz glowed a bright purple while laguz became a deep sea blue. ¡°¡­those aren¡¯t supposed to glow.¡± I said dumbly. Then I gasped. The molten heat of my magic roared. My chest, once full of pain, seemed to crack, then become filled with a soothing warmth, like a hot bath on aching bones. Energy flooded me. I rose to my feet, and picked up the torch I¡¯d made, still glowing with unstable fires. No time left. I still had to escape from the middle of a guard station. At the door, three men had been blasted into a wall. Unconscious. Apparently while my makeshift explosive was powerful, it wasn¡¯t enough to kill them. I wondered if I should have felt disappointed in the runes I¡¯d made for a moment, but pushed that aside. I ripped a longsword from one of the men¡¯s waists and ran down the hall. While getting escorted in, I¡¯d seen most of the make-up of the station. I knew where the exit was. More importantly¡­ Spinning around one hallway, I saw a man staring at me in shock. I charged this guard, roaring. A fully grown man, dressed in full plate armor, screamed, throwing his hands up and running. I followed him briefly, then switched to another hallway. I didn¡¯t want to kill anyone, but I needed to escape with a few things as well. Scaring was a good happy medium to keep people from dying without stopping. The room I headed for had several crates pushed up against the wall, and two women and one man sitting at a thick wooden table. They had been playing a game of cards when I entered, rising up and looking around, possibly due the explosion I¡¯d caused. When the shadow of my form appeared, they looked up. I was already charging. ¡°Light!¡± the man yelped. I grabbed the table and flipped it. Powered by the ¨±ruz rune on my waist, my already massive strength was now insane. I felt like a raging dragon as I spun the table around, slamming it into the three humans. They flew into the walls like cannons, slamming into the stone with painful force. I felt invincible for a moment. Then I coughed up blood. I looked at my waist to see the runes flickering. ¡°Damn,¡± that was the problem with using unstable runes to power yourself. They began to tear into the body, forcing the muscles, veins, and tendons to try and compensate for the horrific pressure. With no other choice, I pulled the iron band off. I immediately felt my strength leave me, and fell to a knee. Taking a deep breath, I rose up and hobbled over to a crate. Opening it, I found my satchel, sitting on other items. This was the room they¡¯d put my things in. Putting the satchel on, I slowly turned around. Okay, no more logic. I brought back all of my rage. My fear, my sadness, all of it came forth. I almost felt my eyes change color. No more planning. No more runes. For this, I¡¯d need to run hard, and do it as violently as possible. I hesitated. To do this meant letting go of everything. But I knew I needed it. That power I¡¯d felt in my most horrific moments¡­ ¡°¡­All right.¡± Two steps forward, my muscles clenching. My mouth opened. I reared my head back. My arms swung out. What came out of my mouth was a noise I would never have believed normal lungs could produce. It was a scream, a shriek, and a battle-cry. My roar shook the room. The exhilaration of releasing my rage, of giving in to that dark part of me, almost took over. And yet, all of my fears of losing control faded. Even as I felt all of the anger I¡¯d built up over the years, all of desperation and loneliness, my fear for Katya and myself, it didn¡¯t come out as a blinding rage. Instead I felt focused. As though by accepting my anger, I¡¯d attained some sort of enlightenment. I didn¡¯t take the time to truly inspect the feeling. I reached for the sword I¡¯d stolen, held it before me, and started sprinting. The explosion I¡¯d caused had created a ruckus. When I began sprinting through the hallways, guards were beginning to fill it. On seeing me, massive in form, armed with a sword, leaking blood from my mouth, red eyes glowing as I silently sprinted towards them, they immediately started slashing. But in my focused rage, the battle frenzy I¡¯d discovered, even the well-trained guards seemed easy to defeat. It all seemed to happen in one fluid movement. I punched one man, throwing him into his friend, blocked a sword with the one I¡¯d stolen to stab a woman in the shoulder, used my massive body to simply bull past people. It was fast, ferocious, and efficient. My anger only seemed to fuel and reveal my enemies, not blind me with emotion. Step, step, thrust. Step, step, kick. Step, step, grab, and throw. Even with my newfound focus, I still found myself getting cut up. The guards were too good to simply ignore. And I was avoiding killing them, which gave them more chances to kill me. But the advantage of my strength, and my refusal to stop simply sprinting forward was enough. The officer who¡¯d arrested me, Chris, stepped in front of me just before I got to the doors. ¡°Stop, orcl¡ª¡± Even in my focused state, a fresh blaze of hot anger filled me at the sound of yet another person calling me ¡®orc¡¯. I continued my sprint forward, charging straight towards Chris. His eyes widened. He took his sword out, ready to impale me. I smacked his sword away with mine. Moving with my full speed, my mass slammed into him like a bull. He had enough time to shriek in shock. Then I slammed into the wooden doors that lead outside. We slammed into the ground, surprising a group of guards who¡¯d been heading in. Before they could move, I spun to my feet and took off into the streets. I could hear others telling me to stop or else. Like hell. I was running out of time. I set my jaw, ignored my wounds, and simply pushed forward. I zigzagged, went to the roofs, and stuck to the shadows. Like I had two weeks and a lifetime ago. When they stopped chasing me, I¡¯d run home. I needed to save Katya. And only one thing could help me do that. ------ When the door to my house opened, I was surprised to see Jennifer. But not as surprised as she was to see me. ¡°Char!¡± she stared at me, horrified. I couldn¡¯t blame her. While the blood had dried, I still had streaks of it all over me, including from my mouth thanks to my reckless use of body enhancement magic. ¡°Hey Jennifer,¡± I said blandly, stepping past her. ¡°Char!¡± Arthur and Hasha rose up from the table, where drinks and papers had been set up. ¡°Hey,¡± I ignored the papers, simply walking towards the workroom. Then I stopped when I realized what I was looking at. ¡°Is that a schematic for the guard station I was taken too?¡± The three adults looked at the papers, then shared a look. ¡°Were you going to break me out?¡± They smiled sheepishly. I smirked, feeling a bit of warmth. ¡°Well, thank you,¡± I wiped the smirk away,¡± But there¡¯s no time.¡± ¡°What, why?¡± Hasha said, the three of them following me. ¡°Katya¡¯s in danger,¡± I ripped my shirt off, marching through the forges. ¡°What, that den of monsters?¡± Arthur cocked an eyebrow at the sight of me throwing the tattered remains of my shirt into one of the forges opening. ¡°Isn¡¯t that the reason why you worked double-time on that armor?¡± ¡°Someone has stacked the deck against her.¡± ¡°Who?¡± Jennifer asked. ¡°Damn it, Char, slow down and talk to us!¡± Hasha cried out as I opened a crate to grab a shirt. ¡°I am talking, I¡¯m just doing it while I work. Now, do you have any heal potions? Basic wounds and anti-biotics, maybe something to flush out rogue magic?¡± ¡°I do, but you should go to a hospital if you¡¯re hurt!¡± Hasha protested as I stepped past him. ¡°No time!¡± I opened the door to my workshop, ¡°Arthur, help me put on the armor, Hasha, get those potions!¡± ¡°Not until you say what this is about!¡± Jennifer yelled. I moved over the enormous steel plates I¡¯d made a lifetime ago. ¡°A man named Jeremy came into the cell and told me everything. Katya isn¡¯t a Prophesied Child, there is no prophecy, and some Jeremy is trying to have her killed so that the followers of the Chapel will be left in despair. More importantly right now, she doesn¡¯t have a prophecy protecting her. He¡¯s replaced the weak monsters in the den with his mercenaries, traps, and monsters. If we don¡¯t go and convince Richard to send in help, she could die.¡± As I quickly unhitched my armor from its stand, I could hear the adults stop in their tracks to stare at my back. ¡°¡­You said you needed potions?¡± Hasha said. ¡°Let me help,¡± Jennifer stepped forward to help with the armor. ¡°¡­No prophecy?¡± I looked over at Arthur. He seemed shocked. ¡°How¡­ how can that be? That prophecy it¡­ it¡¯s supposed be the hope of the land,¡± he leaned against a counter, some scraps of metal falling as he did. ¡°She¡¯s¡­we¡¯re supposed to be safe from now on. The Light¡­¡± Damn. I looked at Arthur as Jennifer continued to remove my armor, trying to decide what to do. Arthur was a true believer. Like many, the Prophesied Child was a symbol of hope for him, of a tomorrow untouched by the horrors of the plague. Seeing him now¡­ it was like seeing how everyone else would react. When they realized how ¡°I¡­¡± I sighed. ¡°Maybe there is no prophecy. But there is a hero. A good, kind girl who some people are being paid to kill. We need to go out there and try to convince Richard to go help her.¡± ¡°So why are you putting armor on?¡± Jennifer asked with a quirked eyebrow. ¡°In case nobody listens to the random orc telling people that the leadership of the Chapel has been lying.¡± ¡°Damn it,¡± Arthur shook his head rubbing his face. ¡°It¡¯s not so bad,¡± Hasha walked into the room. ¡°I¡¯d assume, even with this deception, that there are more than a few leaders of the Chapel who are honest victims. In the end, this is not the first time in history a religious organization has used lies to control the populace.¡± ¡°Should we even believe this?¡± Arthur looked around. ¡°I mean, the person who told you this, he tried to kill Katya, right?¡± ¡°And me,¡± I put on my steel cotton shirts as Arthur gaped at me. ¡°He sent a group of knights, an assassin, and those thugs tonight.¡± ¡°Why the hell wouldn¡¯t you say that!?¡± Arthur rubbed the bridge of his nose. ¡°Light save me, I need a drink.¡± ¡°In truth, it all fits,¡± Hasha rummaged through a bag he¡¯d gotten. ¡°The prophecy seemed to come out of nowhere, with no indications of such a thing before the plague was cured. I imagine it was done to consolidate power after the plague ended up being cured by a group of wizards rather than the priests.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what Jeremy said,¡± I held my arms out to let Jennifer put on my chestplate, strapping it to the backplate. ¡°I only have basic potions,¡± Hasha took out a glass vial filled with red liquid. ¡°Contusions, cuts, so on and so forth.¡± ¡°How long would it take to get an advanced potion?¡± Arthur asked. I could tell from the way he was speaking, slow and deliberate, that he was still shaken. Trying to distract himself. ¡°I don¡¯t keep any, because they tend to rot after a week. And it takes twelve hours to make them.¡± ¡°Twelve hours?¡± Jennifer helped me with my leg armor, strapping it on. ¡°Time is, and always will be, the cost for quality, and advanced healing potions are a big part of that,¡± Hasha shook his head. ¡°Char, I don¡¯t think you should go. I¡¯m an experienced fighter, I can go and handle this.¡± ¡°You can,¡± I shook my head. ¡°But I can¡¯t let you go without helping in some way. Besides, my armor and my strength can help.¡± ¡°Char,¡± at the seriousness of his voice, I looked. His face was¡­ ancient. Even though I knew he measured his age in centuries, I never really considered him old. He was inquisitive, thoughtful, knowledgeable, and energetic. But now, seeing the sadness on his face¡­ he just looked old. ¡°You don¡¯t understand what we might be walking into. You say this person, the one who told you all this, turned the den of monsters into a trap, with an army of mercenaries and monsters? Then this is a war. And war is not something I can let you go to.¡± He sighed. ¡°This won¡¯t be like battles in the stories. The villains won¡¯t be easily killed men and woman you can slap aside with little to no consequences. They will be people. Smart, strong, trained, and emotional people. They will pull every bit of willpower they have to kill you. And if you kill them¡­ that will stay with you.¡± Jennifer placed the last piece armor, handing me my simple helm. ¡°Hasha, any story with such black and white sorts of characters is not a good one,¡± I stepped forward and took the basic heal potion from his hand, opening the cork and swigging the horrific tasting potion down. I scowled at the feel of my wounds painfully sealing, the magics that I¡¯d enhanced myself with slowly dissolving into my blood and fading away. ¡°I know this will be bad. And I¡¯m not ready for what is coming, not mentally. But Katya is going to need help I can trust. That¡¯s you and me.¡± ¡°What about me?¡± Jennifer asked with a smirk. ¡°You need to gather your employees,¡± I said with a sad sigh. ¡°If you feel like helping, I¡¯d like to know there is a small group of skilled people ready to help us escape the den.¡± ¡°Escape?¡± Jennifer asked. ¡°The Chapel might have somethings to say about us knowing the truth about the prophecy. We need someone to protect those who weren¡¯t involved in the consipiracy. Can you do anything?¡± She simply smirked. ¡°And me?¡± Arthur asked. ¡°I don¡¯t have armor to protect you like mine does, and you¡¯re about as trained for combat as I am,¡± I said simply. ¡°Hmph,¡± Arthur scoffed. ¡°Then I suppose I¡¯ll simply sit on my arse then?¡± ¡°No. You tell the story if we die,¡± I step out of the workshop. My armor, heavy as it is, forces me to use a portion of my strength to move. Not much, but enough to be noticeable. Right. I hadn¡¯t activated the runes yet. ¡°Char, I can¡¯t let you go,¡± Hasha says behind me. Before I can turn to look at him, something hits me in the back. Nothing big, just a slap of sorts, with sound of metal on metal following. Then I gasp as my body shudders. ¡°Not without completing that armor,¡± Hasha says as my vision goes white. ¡°The rune you described to me, the one joined with laguz and jera? It¡¯s as you suspected. A rune of connection, on a level I could barely understand. I deciphered it. And now I¡¯ve used it on your armor. Thirty-seven runes, now working in complete concert,¡± he sighed sadly. ¡°It was supposed to be a gift. Something to help you get your grandmastery in rune making. But it¡¯s best to use it now. ¡°I¡­¡± I blinked, my vision clearing. My hands closed and opened as power seemed to hum within me. ¡°I thought that was impossible?¡± He stepped around to look up at me, smirking. ¡°Char. Come on. This is magic. Nothing is impossible with enough research, intelligence, and resources,¡± he looked over my shoulder. ¡°Jennifer? I believe one of your former boys owns a stable nearby?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll have him prepare some horses,¡± she said quietly. ¡°Boy,¡± I looked over at Arthur. He nodded. ¡°Be safe.¡± ¡°¡­I¡¯ll try.¡± Hasha and I left. ------ The horses we got were fast. Very fast. And strong as well, to carry me in full armor (Though I looked ridiculous with my large frame on a horse, even considering the massive steeds we¡¯d gotten). So much so that I was wondering if they were as enhanced as I was in my armor. Still, the den was far enough from city limits that I had time to go over what Hasha had done to my armor. Originally, its runes were very similar to Katya¡¯s. I¡¯d based things like the jump jets I¡¯d placed in her armor off my own armor, though hers were more advanced. But now, with Hasha¡¯s placement of the connection rune, whatever that rune was, my runes were working with twenty percent better efficiency and power. My strength, speed, and jump jets were better than ever. Of course, things weren¡¯t perfect. The weapon I had on my right gauntlet only had one projectile within. I¡¯d brought several explosives as well in my satchel, and some black powder and projectiles to reload the weapon (Really needed to name the damn thing) but it took a long time reload. My only other weapon, besides my enhanced strength, was the left gauntlets own spells, based on the dagger Jennifer had destroyed. Other than those, I had nothing. I¡¯d need to consider adding more weaponry to my next armor, or simply upgrade this one. Something to consider if we made it out. Still, it seemed like my armor would do the job. While still not as well made as Katya¡¯s armor, I could depend on it. When we got to the so-called den of monsters, a large crowd was gathered. Maybe hundreds of people, all gathered in the canyon where Hasha had led me too. The ground was mostly smooth stone, the glacier that had created the canyon long since gone. We stopped our horses by the fence that had been placed to cordon off the area, and tied them next to the other horses, rushing into the crowd. I felt glad for my helmet then. I didn¡¯t like crowds. Or rather, crowds didn¡¯t like me. But at least the helmet, with its opaque glass helm, kept them from see my orc features. As it was, I just looked like a giant armor. Still intimidating, as the people parting before me with widened eyes proved, but not worthy of a riot. When we came up to the other side of the crowd, we could see a set of white tents trimmed with gold placed to the right of a large hole in side of the mountain, the tents entrance festooned with the fist of the Chapel of Valor. A group of guards stepped forward to stop us from crossing the fence that kept the cheering crowd from coming any closer. Hasha reached into his pants pocket as we came up, and took out the same credentials he¡¯d shown to Richard. ¡°I¡¯m a wizard from Jarvin Tower, here to give information to one Richard Dedicat.¡± The five guards looked at each other, confused. ¡°Didn¡¯t one of you people already come along?¡± One of them asked. ¡°One of us?¡± Hasha frowned. ¡°Did you get their name?¡± ¡°Chick Hammer.¡± ¡°Chick Hammer?¡± I repeated, shocked. Hasha hung his head as I cocked mine to the side. ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound real.¡± ¡°He chose it,¡± Hasha sighed. ¡°Well, I need to bring something to Richard.¡± ¡°Yes sir,¡± The guards opened a gate on the fence, letting us go forth. Two of the guards followed as we went. ¡°Okay,¡± Hasha sighed again. ¡°Char, remember what I told you about ignorance? What are the two ways to cure it?¡± ¡°Acknowledgement and information,¡± I answered in confusion at his bad mood. I looked at the den of monsters, obviously the large cave. It was oddly foreboding. ¡°Right, well Chick Hammer is what happens when some refuses to do either,¡± Hasha frowned. ¡°He¡¯s a know nothing, know-it-all. His knowledge of the universe is infinite¡­ in his own mind. He knows just enough things to claim to be a wizard, but any real magic-user keeps him away from the real experiments.¡± ¡°Is he going to be a problem?¡± ¡°Not really,¡± as one of the guards entered the tent to announce our arrival, Hasha smirked. ¡°I¡¯ve been looking for an excuse to punch that smug bastard.¡± The guard opened the tent to let us in. Hasha entered first. When I followed, I was surprised to find a party. Men and women dressed in clothes and jewelry that represented wealth few could imagine were surrounding a table full of food and drink from all over the world. Halfling and human servants were rushing about the tent, making sure the human, dwarf, and elven wealthy were well taken care of. An elven woman was singing at the far right of the tent, plucking at a harp. The Arch-Bishop was sitting on the right of the man at the head of the table, with Richard next to him. He was whispering in that man¡¯s ear as Richard slowly picked at his food. From the stressed look on his face, I imagined he was worried about something. To the left of the man at the head of the table was the magistrate of Jarvin. He was watching Arch-Bishop with a cocked eyebrow. When we entered, no one really noticed. Hasha moved for Richard, with me following. As I stepped forward, the conversation hushed. While they hadn¡¯t noticed us enter, a man of my size in armor that further bulks him up does not go unnoticed. One of the men, a relatively good looking elf with black hair, blinked at the sight of Hasha. ¡°Hasha? The hell you doing here, you recluse!?¡± He grinned, eyes slightly unfocused as he carefully balanced a wooden mug in one hand. ¡°Hammer,¡± Hasha said simply, stepping past where the man sat. The man, Chick Hammer apparently, snapped his hand out to grab Hasha¡¯s arm. Hasha froze very, very still. ¡°Oh come on mate, don¡¯t be a stranger! I was just telling uh¡­ what was your name sweetie?¡± His companion, a young dwarf woman who was very deliberately eating her meal, said, ¡°Cordelia.¡± ¡°Ah, Cordelia, about our research into physics! That we might one day prove the reasoning of cold energy in space? Fascinating, no?¡± Hasha sighed. ¡°Hammer, there is so much wrong with what you¡¯ve said, including describing ¡®cold¡¯ as energy when it is merely an absence of heat, but¡ª¡± The other elf smirked. ¡°Oh Hasha, you really need to get out and about in the world. Maybe you¡¯d learn a thing or two!¡± Hasha seemed very close to snapping. ¡°Why of course cold energy exists! Why else would we have snow and ice?¡± ¡°Because heat is removed from water, forcing the molecules to slow, creating a damned solid! It¡¯s all due to an absence of heat, not an inclusion of cold!¡± Hasha ignored the way the rest of the table was now staring at us. Richard blinked in shock, rising up to come meet us. I leaned over to Hasha. ¡°We don¡¯t have time for this,¡± I hissed. ¡°Come on.¡± Hasha took a deep breath, then pulled his hand away from Hammer to walk off. ¡°Hmph¡­ Ignorant bastard,¡± Hammer mumbled, taking a large chug of his drink. I winced. Hasha spun around and leaped towards Hammer. In one smooth move that faster than I could believe, he pulled Hammer¡¯s chair out from under him, spun the elf around to press him into the table, and grabbed a pitcher of water. He poured the water over the man as he held the shocked Hammer to the table. Hammer sputtered, trying to spit out the water pouring on his face. Then Hasha said a single word. ¡°Infrizda.¡± The water froze. Hammer tried to scream, but only whined through his nose. His mouth, neck, and hands were all covered in ice. Several guards sprung forward. I stepped in their way, with Richard doing the same. ¡°Do you feel that?¡± Hasha hissed. ¡°That is the feeling of me removing heat from the water. Now, according to your hypothesis, this means that ¡®cold energy¡¯ has filled the water, turning it to ice. So all you have to do to avoid hypothermia, is to remove that cold energy,¡± Hasha stepped back, leaving Hammer frozen to the table, eyes wide with fear. ¡°Ignorant my ass.¡± ¡°Hasha, Char,¡± Richard looked between us, shocked. ¡°What¡­ What are you¡ª?¡± ¡°Katya¡¯s in danger,¡± I said quickly. ¡°Someone has filled the den with soldiers and monsters of their own. They¡¯ve rigged the whole thing.¡± ¡°I thought the point of the whole thing was that it would be dangerous, isn¡¯t it?¡± Cordelia, the pretty dwarf who¡¯d sat next to the still struggling Hammer, asked. ¡°Isn¡¯t the point of the prophecy that she can¡¯t lose?¡± I ignored her. ¡°Richard, we need to talk privately.¡± With all these high-ranking officials, I couldn¡¯t risk simply blurting out the truth about the prophecy, not without causing a fight. He frowned, looking around at the staring partiers, and nodded towards a set of drapes blocking an entrance to another part of the tent. He waved off the guards, and Hasha and I followed. Inside was a small table. It had been set up with a map of the area we stood in, with small figurines all over it. As we entered, Mountain looked up. He been resting near the table. I removed my helmet, smiling at the massive dog. He grinned at me, rising to gently press his head against my armored chest. I scratched behind his ears. Richard looked between Hasha and me. ¡°I don¡¯t understand, someone is trying to kill Katya?¡± Mountain stilled at that, which Richard ignored. ¡°Who?¡± ¡°A man by the name of Jeremy,¡± I said. ¡°That merc leader?¡± Richard frowned. ¡°I¡¯ve heard of him, but he only does work near the capitol.¡± ¡°Well he came to my cell today,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s why I escaped. To warn you¡ª¡± ¡°You escaped prison!?¡± Richard said, horrified. ¡°Light save me, you need to surrender! Katya will speak on your behalf, we¡¯ll let you out, but if you remain a fugitive¡ª¡± ¡°Richard, we have bigger damned issues!¡± I yelled. He shut his mouth, surprised. ¡°Someone has rigged the den to kill Katya. Things are¡­ we need to send people in to help her. Guards, paladins, priests¡ª¡± ¡°You will do no such thing,¡± We turned to see the Arch-Bishop enter. He glowered at the sight of me. ¡°Orcling. I will have you arrested for interfering in this sacred ceremony.¡± ¡°You tried that,¡± I said softly. ¡°It didn¡¯t take.¡± His eyes gleamed, and he frowned. ¡°The Prophesied Child has been in the cave for five minutes. She will exit, as foretold, with her first of many victories. As the prophecy says.¡± ¡°Except that it isn¡¯t quite so certain, is it?¡± Hasha asked. The Arch-Bishop¡¯s eyes seemed to glow a bit brighter. ¡°There is no prophecy,¡± I¡¯d had my doubts. After all, when you are told your whole life that something is certain, you can¡¯t help but believe it. But now, with the unmoving look to the Arch-Bishops face, I knew. It was true. Or to put it better, it was a lie. ¡°¡­Arch-Bishop?¡± Richard asked. Mountain took a place behind me, looking at the old priest. ¡°Father Richard, arrest these men. Kill them if they resist,¡± The Arch-Bishop turned, apparently satisfied. ¡°Not even going to deny it?¡± I asked. He stopped. ¡°Even if it wasn¡¯t your plan, your body language says it all.¡± ¡°The classic signs of evasiveness, the pupils movement to indicate sudden stress, a lack of shock or denial at a sudden accusation, as the subject already knew the information being presented,¡± Hasha said. ¡°All indicating that you knew there was no prophecy. That you were in on the conspiracy. Keeping power in the Chapel.¡± ¡°Arch-Bishop?¡± Richard sounded hesitant, worried. ¡°Father Richard, once again, arrest those men!¡± The loud bark of noise brought a growl from Mountain. The Arch-Bishop eyed the big dog and frowned severely. ¡°And have the damn beast killed! It annoys me?¡± ¡°Well, you certainly go for the petty blows,¡± I mumbled under my breath. Mountain huffed out a doggy laugh. ¡°Mountain?¡± Richard stepped forward, moving past us. ¡°Sir, he¡¯s Katya¡¯s friend, not a simple beast. What is happening to you? You haven¡¯t ever acted like¡ª¡± The Arch-Bishop slapped him. We stood in silence, shocked. Richard¡¯s eyes widened. Then they narrowed as the Arch-Bishop leaned forward. ¡°The girl is in the den. From now on, her life belongs to me. And I will nothing in that life second guessing my decisions. Now, you will do as I said.¡± The Arch-Bishop left. I was shocked. ¡°Does he really think you¡¯re going to follow that order?¡± I asked incredulously. ¡°¡­Apparently,¡± Richard said. He took a deep breath. ¡°No prophecy?¡± I quickly explained everything about Jeremy and what he said. His claims, his plans, and the attempted murders. ¡°¡­Okay,¡± he shook his head. ¡°We go in, now. Prophecy or not, I won¡¯t wait outside while a man is trying to kill my charge.¡± I refrained from mentioning that he had already sent her into a den of monsters. ¡°Char, grab a sword from that trunk,¡± As I moved, Richard went to the wall of the tent and took his sword out. ¡°What happened to Stormcall?¡± Hasha asked as I unlocked the massive wooden trunk. ¡°That lightning blade you gave Katya?¡± Richard sliced through the tent, stepping out. ¡°Gave it back to her. She went in with all her little tools as well.¡± ¡°Thank goodness for small miracles then,¡± Hasha turned, only to raise an eyebrow when he saw the weapons I was carrying. ¡°Two swords? And that is just¡­ Char, you understand that bigger is just unwieldy?¡± I strapped one sword, a simple longsword, to my waist. Then the other, a claymore as wide as my bicep and taller than Arthur, I carried. ¡°It¡¯s not for showing off,¡± I looked over at Mountain. He grinned, then moved to join Richard. I followed him as I spoke. ¡°That merc, Jeremy, said something about beasts and demons. I don¡¯t know what kinds, but I believe most beings in existence have an inability to deal with five feet of steel slamming into their throats.¡± Richard immediately walked towards the cave when we were all out. As we moved closer, I could see some of the guards step forward to intercept us. He didn¡¯t stop moving, only whispering to us. ¡°Mountain, don¡¯t kill them.¡± The dog grinned. As we came closer, one of the guards stepped forward. ¡°Sir, I need you to¡ª¡± Mountain leapt forward. His jaws glowed with blue light, and he tackled the guard down. The armored man only had time to shriek before almost a ton of furry beast was slamming into him and bringing him down. The other guards yelped, cursed, or stared at Mountain. ¡°Go, now!¡± The three of us, human, half-orc, and elf, charged for the den. The other guards got over their shock, tried to follow us. Mountain barked with sort of pure happiness only animals and children can feel, following us. Beneath my fear, my worry, and my anger, I felt excitement. Dressed in full armor, charging a cave of monsters alongside my friends, all to save another, with guards shouting for us to stop? It felt like the first steps into an adventure. Then we entered the den. Dirt gave way to stone. The light of the sun traded for the dark of the den. The shouts outside slowly faded as we went deeper in, until all we heard were our footsteps on the stone. I almost slipped on the smooth stone, but quickly readjusted. Deeper we went, leaving the world behind. Chapter 9 For a moment, we stood in pitch blackness. Contrary to popular belief, half-orcs don¡¯t always get the dark vision that orcs have, so I was as blind as the rest. ¡°Hasha?¡± I asked. ¡°Right. Furo.¡± An orange flame illuminated the darkness. We were standing in some sort of tight tunnel. Hasha held a flame over his open hand, and was looking around carefully. Richard had a frown on his craggy face. Mountain couldn¡¯t have been happier in contrast to us, his tongue wagging as the light played across his furry face. ¡°We need a better option for light,¡± Richard said softly. ¡°If Katya does have people after her, this torch will only broadcast our location. In fact, I¡¯d say it¡¯s how they¡¯re tracking her now.¡± I thought about the helmet I¡¯d brought for her from my shop. The last piece I had yet to finish. I reached into my satchel, then pulled away. None of us here could wear it or use its functions. And my own helmet, thanks to the time I¡¯d spent developing Katya¡¯s armor, had none of the visual enhancements I¡¯d imagined. Damn it. Hasha frowned. ¡°I don¡¯t have anything that can illuminate us while hiding our presence.¡± ¡°¡­Mountain?¡± the big dog looked at Richard. ¡°Find our girl.¡± Mountain immediately stepped forward, sniffing the air. Hasha turned off the light, forcing us to follow in darkness. It was the most unnerving experience of my life. Traveling like that, keeping silent, and listening closely for any shadows in the dark. We kept stumbling over loose stones as we followed Mountain, whose coat allowed him to mix into the shadows. He had to stop at times, growling slightly to signal his position to us. The tunnels tightened and widened at random. At one point I had to scrape through a tight section tunnel, the claustrophobic feel of the walls around me forcing me to keep from lashing out as my armor scratched against stone. Trying to stay quiet in my massive armor, even with all its enhancements, was a chore. I was sweating from the stressful exertion of being so careful, even in coolness of the cave. Richard had experience with armor, so he was fine. Hasha wore only a shirt and pants, while Mountain was, well, a dog. But I was having trouble, especially with the claymore I was holding. While my reasoning had seemed sound outside, I was learning that it was hard to maneuver such a large weapon. Teach me to pretend I knew everything about strategy. The whole experience solidified my plans. ¡°If we survive all this, I¡¯m making the best damn armor I can for myself.¡± I¡¯d whispered it, but was surprised when Richard answered. ¡°I¡¯ll fund it,¡± I couldn¡¯t see him in the dark. I couldn¡¯t even see my own body. But I think he sensed my shock at such a generous offer. ¡°It¡¯ll make Katya happy.¡± That was all he said in offer of explanation. Just then, Mountain stopped, growling. We all froze. I tightened my grip on the claymore. Mountain stepped forward, nudging something. Richard leaned down to touch it as well. We heard metal clink. ¡°Hasha, small light,¡± Richard said. Hasha complied. When he created the tiny bit of flame we could see the body. A man, his throat slashed. He¡¯d died with a hand at his throat right gauntlet covered in slowly drying blood. Some electrical burns could be seen along the cut, something I had experienced thanks to my own research. ¡°Stormcall,¡± I said softly. It was all I could say as I stared at the human body, horror filling me. The sight of him, the look of terror and despair on his frozen face, shocked me to my core. ¡°Katya,¡± Richard smiled. ¡°She¡¯s gotten to work. Trained in blind-fighting after all.¡± ¡°Is there anything you haven¡¯t taught her?¡± I asked in honest curiosity as I tried to keep calm. ¡°...More than a few things I wish had taught her now.¡± He rose up. ¡°We need to¡ª¡± Something slammed into my shoulder, skittering off my armor. I spun, panicked, lashing out with a punch. In Hasha¡¯s flickering light, I saw a man, dressed in well-made leather armor, dodge my fist. He stabbed forward, eyes widening under black hair when his dagger pierced an inch into my armor and stuck there. I used his surprise to grab him with my left gauntlet, since he was too close to attack with the claymore. Electricity flooded out from the gauntlet, blinding me. He screamed. My left gauntlet was made to release intense shocks, to destabilize and hurt opponents. A shock gauntlet. Out of the thirty-seven runes in my armor, five alone were dedicated to the gauntlets electric attack. One connected to my own mana to power the runes, two to protecting me from the effects of the attack backfiring on me, and two more to release the power in a safe manner. It wouldn¡¯t work forever, as it only had as much power as I¡¯d put into it, but it gave me enough to make the man scream in pain. I silenced him by punching him in the stomach. He went flying, his back slamming into a wall and falling to the floor, unconscious. Two more men came from the tunnel the first one had come from, rushing before I could make a move. One had a sword, the other an axe, and both looked pissed. ¡°Damn it, couldn¡¯t you have been quieter?¡± Richard hissed. Then a black rush of fur slipped around me, slamming into the one with the axe in burst of angry furry snarls. Then, in a quick move, Mountain grabbed the mans head, and twisted. The sound of bone cracking filled the air as I watched in horror. ¡°Gods!¡± The other one screamed, anger replaced with shock. Richard stabbed that one in the chest. Blood flew onto Richard''s grim visage. He removed the sword from the man''s heart, reaching for a napkin with a business-like efficiency. ¡°Hmph,¡± Hasha, who''d been raising the flame in his hand to strike, lowered his arm again. ¡°That was over quick. ¡°You... killed them.¡± The three of them looked at me. I hadn''t even realized I''d spoken. Hasha''s eyes softened. ¡°Char. I-¡± From somewhere else, the sounds of footsteps and shouts came, as well as several eerie bays and howls. Somewhere else, a person screamed before it was cut-off. Hasha shook his head. ¡°We''ll talk about this later. As it is, we need to run. Sound acoustics in a cave are terrible,¡± He shut off his fire. ¡°If we move on, they¡¯ll have no chance of finding us.¡± ¡°Mountain, we need to hurry,¡± Richard said worriedly. Mountain barked softly. The dog moved forward, leaving us to follow. I stopped for a moment to stare at the men, two dead. The man whose neck Mountain had broken stared blankly at me. The caves, for all their creepiness, were actually fascinating, from the magical perspective. We came upon a spot of glowing stones at one point. I¡¯d worried about it until Hasha pointed out that it was bioluminescent moss that fed on the water dripping from the stalactites above. I almost reached out to grab a sample for study until Richard grabbed me by the arm and pulled me away, annoyed with Hasha and I. Animals, plants, and other small forms of life filled the so called den of monsters. More and more, I was getting the sense we were in a place of majesty. Spiders, salamanders, centipedes, and bats, moved to avoid us. Insects so small I couldn¡¯t identify them lived in pools made from rivers that had somehow flowed into these caves, carrying debris from outside deep in the darkest parts of the cave. Then we saw a light. We stopped. Mountain didn¡¯t, marching forward gamely. I raised my right gauntlet, ignoring the memory of the woman I''d killed with it to follow with the others. Slowly, we marched, the light becoming brighter and brighter. A loud noise came from it, filling the tunnel. My fists tightened, terrified of what was causing so much continuous light and sound. We came out into a beautiful sight. A massive circular chamber, open at the top and going down for hundreds of meters, with trees, moss, and flowers growing all along the stone chambers walls. At the top, maybe twelve to fifteen meters above us, I could see more trees all around the edges of the gap, with open sky above. Water poured down from other tunnels all along the walls, the rivers pouring into the chamber and creating waterfalls that slammed down somewhere below with a melodious set of sounds. We stood in the tunnel, staring in awe. ¡°Somehow the cave network must have brought us from the canyon to the Decortana Woods,¡± Hasha said. Unlike the dark caves, Hasha had to yell to be heard here, since the waterfalls noise drowned out all other sounds. ¡°We¡¯re that far north?¡± I asked, shocked. Then an impact hit my arm. I looked to see an arrow lay limply against me. It had pierced my high-carbon steel armor, but was slowed enough that it didn¡¯t pierce my steel cotton shirt, leaving it to slide out and hang in the hole it had created. ¡°Archers!¡± Richard roared. ¡°Seriously! They attacked me again!?¡± I said, shocked. Why did they keep focusing on me? High above, across the chamber in a different tunnel, several men in leather and metal armor pointed at us, yelling. A woman was reloading her bow grimly, while a man aimed at us with his own and fired. ¡°Proserto!¡± Hasha waved his hand out, snarling the word. The arrow bounced off a bit of hardened air he''d formed into a shield. The female archer aimed, having reloaded. ¡°Furo!¡± He punched outwards. I could see the water that rested on the stones around us all around us begin to freeze, Hasha borrowing the heat around him for his spell as he ignited the air in front of him. A fireball shot outwards to cross the chamber at high speed, aiming at the men above us. They retreated, but two men were sent flying when the fireball exploded. One was thrown back into the tunnel he¡¯d been standing in. The other screamed, flailing, to the bottom of the chamber, his body still burning as he fell. His scream was cut short at the bottom. A sizzle followed as the flames on his body were put out by the water pooling at the bottom. Richard looked around quickly as Mountain growled. The tunnel we were standing in led to a large ledge that went around the chamber until a halfway point. Our best bet was to simply go back into the tunnel however, rather then using the ledge to get to a different tunnel. We were very exposed. I could see Richard getting ready to yell for us to do just that, when he saw what I did. Lower down, flashes of light began to appear. It was in a section of cave that was more open than ours, almost a secondary chamber. Another flash of light appeared. I could see people fighting, indistinct shadows. Except for a young girl glowing, carrying a sword of lightning. ¡°Katya!¡± We yelled in unison. ¡°We have to get to her!¡± Richard cried desperately. ¡°Proserto!¡± Hasha blocked another arrow, holding to spell to block two more, then wincing as a crossbow bolt managed to lodge into the invisible shield of air. The odd image of a crossbow bolt hanging in the air made me blink as Hasha cursed in elven. ¡°I don¡¯t know a way to her!¡±The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. I reached for a rock that rested on the ledge. It was as large as a human skull, and probably heavy, though I couldn¡¯t tell with my strength so enhanced. Aiming, I threw the rock at the woman with the bow, trying to hit her chest. I missed. The rock smashed into the arm of the man beside her instead. He was wearing plate armor. It wasn¡¯t enough. The stone, propelled by my enhanced strength, slammed into his arm like a meteor. The sound of steel bending couldn¡¯t be heard over the crashing waterfalls, but I saw him scream. ¡°Nice throw,¡± Richard complimented. I reminded myself to tell him the truth later. As of then, I was looking down at the cave below us, where Katya was fighting. ¡°In my armor I weigh¡­ 180 kilograms. That cave looks to be fifteen meters down, it¡¯s at an angle of¡­¡± I put together calculations, thinking carefully. ¡°What are you doing?¡± Richard asked. I rose up, stepping away. ¡°Mathematics.¡± Mountain whined in confusion, still ducked behind Hasha¡¯s shield. ¡°I¡­ I have no idea if I should be proud or worried,¡± Hasha said to that. I sighed, feeling a bit sad at the place my life had headed. ¡°Maybe both,¡± I yelled over the rushing waterfall. ¡°Time to ante up!¡± Then, as fast as I could, I charged for the chamber and jumped. ------ Leaping into open air with no ground below you for hundreds of feet is one of the most exhilarating and terrifying things that can be imagined. I knew of a few places in Decortana Forest where elves and humans leaped from platforms at the tops of trees taller than the tallest buildings, with only ropes of flexible jungle vines to save them, or air spirits if they are trained in their use. I was wearing heavy armor, carrying a large claymore, and already weighed a good amount. On the surface, I was dead the instant I jumped. But I¡¯d done the calculations. Granted, knowing the calculations isn¡¯t much help when you find yourself in the air with nothing but stone below you, but I made do. When I jumped, I made sure to get as much distance as I could, using my enhanced strength. I aimed diagonally towards the huge cave I could see bursts of light coming from. As the wind rushed past my ears, I mentally tapped into my armor. On my back, runes within the tubes on back activated and came alight. I felt a burst of heat on the back of my thighs and buttocks as they blasted outwards, propelling me further. Jumpjets. Based off the principles of the thrust created when air was ignited by immense heat, the two tubes on my back pushed me forth. The wind rushed faster around me as the roar of intense flames came from behind me. My breathing was hard, and I tried to stay calm. The cave I was aiming for was too low! Damn it, I¡¯d ignited my jumpjets too early. I tried to aim lower, for the massive hole. I straightened from the flat stance I¡¯d taken, reaching my arms out. My armor saved me from turning into paste on the wall. When I slammed into the rock wall, my arms were there to brace me against the sudden force. The g-forces and the simple impact were absorbed my both my runes of strength, and my natural orcish durability and muscle. As it was, I could feel a few of my runes shatter under the intense force, and knew I¡¯d feel a lot of pain in my muscles tomorrow. I scrambled for a hold as I fell, the claymore still in my hand, locked in a deathgrip. I managed to swing into the cave at the last moment, landing on the gravelly floor with a relieved sigh. ¡°I¡¯ll be honest,¡± I said to one of the mercenaries that had been fighting Katya. ¡°I did not mean to do that.¡± I wasn¡¯t trying to be pithy. But the adrenaline of the experience made me a bit giddy, so the words came out that way. The five mercenaries in front of me, one of them a dwarf riding an armored bear, didn¡¯t seem to appreciate the comment. One spun around, firing an arrow from his already strung bow. Sped up by armor, and hopped up on adrenaline, I was able to sidestep the shot and swing my claymore. The huge sword was barely dodged, and the archer stepped back. The other archer, an elven girl, flipped back into the air and fired. The arrow bounced off my glass visor, and I sensed one more of my runes threaten to shatter, already taxed by my earlier stunt. I moved in, swinging the sword in a sideways arc like Richard had taught me. A human merc in full armor raised a shield to block. There was a rending sound as the edge of the sword dented his shield inward. He screamed, falling back with a clearly broken arm. I grabbed his bare head in my left arm and activated the shock gauntlet, letting thousands of volts pound into his body. As he died, leaving me haunted once more by the smell of charred human meat, the dwarf on the bear came into the fray. A bear charging towards a person is right up there with all the other terrors of the world on the list of things one does not want to have happen to them. Having a dwarven bear, bred for combat, armored, and weighing in at 80 kilograms more than their cousins, doing the same thing is even more daunting. I rolled out of the way of the roaring beast, feeling like I was dodging a moving mountain. It¡¯s right paw lashed out, and hardened claws stabbed into the back of my armor, slashing through my handmade steel, runes, and steel cotton to leave four lines of heat in my back. Pain seared into my mind. I roared, slashing out with my sword again, at the elven girl. She ducked my swing, back-flipped over another, and side-stepped the next, showing incredible agility. What she didn¡¯t dodge was the sudden lightning bolt that came from behind me, throwing the shrieking woman into a wall. I turned to see the lightning bolt had come from Hasha. He was but a dot from where I stood, but I still nodded at him before turning to the other mercs. Across the room, I knew Katya was still fighting. But I had to deal with these mercenaries before moving to help her. The dwarf woman on the bear snarled at me, her face hard. The merc who¡¯d first shot at me aimed his reloaded bow. A man with a sword as big as my own claymore prepared to challenge me. Then we were on each other. The bear launched forward, with more speed than I could believe. I charged as well, rushing to meet the bear head on. We both roared, loud and long, our inhuman voices drowning all other noises. We slammed into each other with incredible force. The feel of that much momentum suddenly pressing into me, of that enormous pressure, was unbelievable. I screamed, roared, pushed with all my strength. The bear did the same, its claws digging at me as I awkwardly tried to stab it with the huge sword in my hand. Claws slashed into my upper arms, and blood began to slip beneath my armor. I roared, pain, fear, and anger filling me, only to explode from my lungs. My eyes seemed to burn. The merc with the claymore of his own swung at my sword just before I would have jammed it into the leg of the bear. My sword snapped in half. I let go, and lifted up my other hand to grab the bears head. The bear roared once more. I punched it in the throat. In the full grip of my newfound battle frenzy, caught in that mix between rage and serenity, I activated my shock gauntlet. The bear roared in pain, and the dwarf girl riding it shrieked. Unfortunately, so did I. The claws digging through my armor had destroyed the safeties I''d put in my armor. Electricity slammed into my body, leaving my muscles clenching and unclenching in pain. I kept it up, screaming. It wasn¡¯t enough. With a small puff, the runes for electricity failed, and the shocks faded, leaving the bear enraged, hurt, and still alive. An arrow bounced off my right arm. Clearly the archer was still shooting at me. I maneuvered the bear around, wrestling with fingers digging into fur and muscle. Teeth scratched into my helmet. Claws tore through my armor. I aimed my right gauntlet at the bears head as more pain flooded my body. The sound of the weapon on my right wrist erupting was louder than the roars, the black powders ignition almost blinding. Dozens of ball bearing slammed into the bears skin, digging into its head. It fought for a bit longer. Then it stopped. I threw the bear¡¯s body aside. The dwarf girl leaped off the bear and got to her feet, pulling out a sword/dagger, the kind usually made for the shorter races. I grabbed the longsword at my waist, the remains of my claymore left on the ground. The archer and claymore user faced me down alongside the dwarf. I launched for them. Slashing at the archer, I forced him to block with his bow, and cleaved through the thin wood. As he staggered, I kicked out. My boot slammed into his groin, sending him flying as a metal boot smashed pelvis bones to powder. A whine left his lips as the archer flew back. Off balance from the kick, I barely blocked the claymore user with my longsword. He forced me back, and I quickly regained my footing. It was immediately clear he was far more skilled then I was. Until then, I''d been able to get by with my armor, tools, and a combination of their surprise and my anger. But now, as I clumsily swung, The claymore user diverted my blows, stepped aside, or parried. With a small step, he dodged an overhead blow from me, and slammed the hilt of his sword into my helmet. Pain exploded once more behind my eyes. The dwarf girl struck, her blade slamming into a section of my chest plate where the bear had chewed through. I screamed. The dwarf girl tried to step back, but her sword got caught against my armor. The claymore user stepped forward. Terrified, I moved quickly. When he swung his sword again, I locked mine with his, then simply grabbed his wrist. We met eyes. I roared. In the midst of my battle frenzy, I swung him around and slammed his body into the wall behind me like a doll. Then I swung again, using him as a club to bash the dwarf girl out of the air as she leaped at me. Then I let go at the apex of my swing. Both went flying out of the cave, into the round chamber outside. They screamed pitifully as they disappeared. Pain continued to fill me as I stared at the hole in the wall. Something within me, something animiliastic seemed to fade back. I huffed angrily, then roared, my blood dripping to the floor. Turning, I prepared to assist Katya. The last of the mercs facing her, a man in robes whose fingers were surrounding in cold mists, fell to his knees. The cold mist around his fingers dissipated as he stared at the sword embedded in his chest. Katya pulled her sword from his chest and looked around as I stared in awe. Men and women of every species but orcs and beastmen lay all over the place, dressed in plate, leather, and cloth. Along with them were two more of the sort of bear I¡¯d had so much trouble with, what looked like a red scaled wyvern with wings of black, and a tiger, all of them armored. Katya sighed sadly, then turned to look at me. For a moment, her face tightened in shock, apparently thinking I was an enemy. Then she smiled. ¡°Char?¡± she frowned. ¡°Wait. Why are you hear?¡± ¡°Uh¡­¡± I looked at the group of mages, monsters, and warriors that had been levied against her. ¡°To rescue you.¡± ¡°Aw,¡± she strode over with a smile. ¡°That¡¯s so so sweet!¡± ¡°And unnecessary,¡± I said with a sigh. Damn. Prophesied Child or not, she really was one of the best fighters I¡¯d ever seen. All my fear. Completely useless. I coughed then. Blood filled my mouth, and a bit of red fell to the ground in a spray. I fell to my knees. Katya yelped in surprise, rushing towards me. ¡°Char! You''re hurt!¡± I grimaced, looking down at myself. My armor, my pride and joy, was damaged. Claw marks trailed along my limbs, and blood poured out of wounds underneath that. Dents and scratches were dug into the surface. As for my body... well. I''d shoved magic into myself through hastily made runes, drank an unsafe number of potion, and had accidentally electrocuted myself. ¡°Oh, Char...¡± Katya placed her hands on my shoulders, and light rose from her palms. ¡°What have you done to yourself?¡± I remembered something, and reached into my satchel. ¡°Forgot to give you this,¡± I took out the helmet I¡¯d made for her. ¡°Well, less forgot, more didn¡¯t-have-a-chance-because-we-got-arrested. But here you go.¡± She gave it a glance, then shook her head. ¡°That doesn''t matter! Just let me heal you!¡± She bit her lips, looking into my eyes sadly. ¡°Char, you aren''t meant for this. Why would you follow me?¡± Aw¡­ damn it. I hadn¡¯t considered how to tell her. Damn it, explaining the whole thing took so long as well. I fought to figure out what to say as she looked at me, cocking her head to the side with a cute frown as she continued to heal me. My wounds began to knit, and she became momentarily distracted. ¡°We need to give you something to replace the blood you lost. I can heal simple wounds, but,¡± she bit her lip. ¡°Char, your body has taken a lot of damage. Some of it is magical.¡± ¡°I know,¡± I sighed, holding the helmet out again. ¡°First, put this on.¡± She stared at it, then nodded her assent. I reached into my bag and pulled out a potion, one made to quickly aid in replacing lost blood. She put on the helmet as I drank. As she did, I felt the runes I¡¯d placed on all the armor pieces solidify and strengthen. The helmet, made with the same visor as my own, showed her face as she frowned. Then she blinked, staring at her glass visor. It was cute, the way she squinted at the clear glass bare millimeters from her face. ¡°What is this? The stuff appearing on the glass?¡± ¡°It¡¯s part of the interface,¡± I sighed. ¡°I thought it would be useful for you to have something to see with in the dark, considering you were entering a cave. So I carved runes of ansuz for clear vision so you couldn¡¯t be blinded by certain effects, and kenaz to give you the ability to see thermal emissions. ?-Ansuz ?- Kenaz ¡°Oh,¡± as I watched, the clear glass turned orange, indicating the switch from clear to thermal vision, then flashing back. ¡°Wait,¡± she shook her head. ¡°I got distracted. Why are you here?¡± ¡°I...¡± I looked behind me. Hasha, Richard, and Mountain had disappeared. Leaving me to explain. But should I explain? What if¡­ ¡°Katya?¡± I said softly. ¡°If you knew that I had information, dangerous information, about you... If I knew something that would change your life, make you rethink everything about yourself, about those around you, something that could make you different just by knowing it. If knowing what I knew would make you wish you¡¯d never learned it¡­ would you still want to know?¡± She stared at me, eyes widening. I looked back at her, waiting. ¡°I think,¡± she bit her lip thoughtfully, ¡°I can¡¯t know for certain. I¡¯ve never had something like that happen to me. But¡­ Hasha once said that, that ignorance and knowledge are the two things that shape the world. Ignorance constrains us. Knowledge frees us,¡± she nodded. ¡°I don¡¯t want to make a mistake, or make the wrong decision, because my ignorance forced me to a certain path. I might not want to know. But¡­ I need to. Like the word says, ¡®The Light may blind, but this only leads to clarity. Let no temporary pain remove you from that which is good.¡¯ So I think you should tell me.¡± ¡°¡­Okay.¡± I sighed. ¡°Here it is. After you left with the Arch-Bishop, one of the guards sat down to watch me. After about an hour¡­¡± ------ I told her everything. She didn¡¯t speak once, only listening. And, with each word, I saw her heart break. I think she wanted to call me a liar. To claim I was wrong. I could see it, in the quiver of her head, shaking it from side to side. But I stormed forward. Surrounded by the corpses of those she¡¯d killed, I told her the truth. There was an old tale, about a man trapped in vines of ignorance, whose wife burned him out using fires of knowledge. He''d been left with burns across his body that caused him incredible pain afterward. But he was free. I could only hope Katya would forgive me for telling her. Chapter 10 We walked out of there later. She was quiet. Not a word since I''d spoken. Just a look in her eyes. Betrayal. Good way to explain it. She looked betrayed. In a very real sense, she had been. We all had really. Even I, despite my lack of religious belief in the Chapel, had thought them to be at least an attempt at doing the right thing. We kept walking. Finally, we took another turn, and found ourselves in a cave filled with glowing strands of light that hung from the ceiling. A river flowed through it, reflecting the lights in gorgeous ways. We stood, stunned at the sight. Katya sat against one of the rocks around us, amazed. ¡°Light, this is¡ª¡± Then she stopped, grimacing. I knew why. She¡¯d been about to pray to the Light. The Light, after I¡¯d told her the Chapel lied to her. ¡°Katya,¡± I said softly. She held up a hand. ¡°No,¡± I clamped my mouth shut. ¡°I¡­ what am I supposed to do now? Everything about me is a lie¡­¡± She looked down at the water, staring into the water. ¡°I¡¯m supposed to be able to save everyone. But if I can fail¡­ if I can die. Then all those people will die too.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t know that,¡± I kneeled down. ¡°I mean, if the prophecy isn¡¯t true, then the threat it says is coming might not be either.¡± She sniffed. ¡°Great. So I¡¯m useless too?¡± she waved my sputters away. ¡°No. That¡¯s selfish. It would be great to know that I¡¯m not needed. That people will be safe. But¡­¡± she looked at me, eyes full of tears. ¡°If you¡¯re right? Then what good am I, Char? I¡¯m just a tool for a bunch of jerks to keep their power? Do I keep doing that? Do I tell everyone the truth, and leave them to feel the same way I do?¡± she tried to rub her face, only for her arm to bounce off her helmet. She giggled a bit crazily when she realized her mistake. ¡°Light, I don¡¯t know what I am anymore! I might be nobody! I don¡¯t know what to do!¡± I tried to figure out what to do as well. ¡°¡­Me neither,¡± she smiled at that. ¡°But, you can¡¯t be nobody. Otherwise I wouldn¡¯t have made such nice armor for you.¡± She chuckled. ¡°Must have been a surprise. Knowing your armor was being worn by just some girl.¡± I placed a hand on her shoulder. ¡°Not some girl. My friend. Someone I know, trust, and care for. My first real friend,¡± she sniffled again. ¡°I don¡¯t have the answers. Our issues won¡¯t be solved in a day, or even a week. The real problems, the ones that shake us to our core, can take years to get over. Sometimes they never do.¡± ¡°Not the best at this comfort thing, Char.¡± I smiled. ¡°But we can learn to live with them. To make sure they don¡¯t define us. Sure, you may not be some prophesied child. But you just took apart three small groups of mercanaries, monsters, and wizards faster than I could even believe. You are a damn good fighter. You save my life in that alley. You are my hero. Maybe the prophecy is fake. But you¡¯re still here. You can still fight. You can still show people the Light, and be an example.¡± She looked up at me again. My smile faded to become the calm, stoic expression I took in my most serious moments. I gave her a nod, steadily eyeing her. When she spoke next, the hesitation, sadness, and fear in her eyes was gone. All there was, was determination. ¡°We¡¯re going to find the others. Then¡­ I need to talk with the Arch-Bishop.¡± We went further into the cave. Step after step, we traversed the dark caverns. It was both boring and tense. Hearing the sounds in the darkness, knowing that they could have been enemies, made me clench my teeth with every little scrape and groan around us. It was a relief when we were attacked. Katya and I met the group in a cavern about as large as the forge. Strings of blue hung on the ceiling, giving everything an odd glow. We''d entered the cavern at the same time, only noticing each once we entered. The group was four people. Two were human women, one of whom was dressed in full plate armor. The others were a dwarf man and a true surprise. He was as large as me. He wore plate armor. A helmet was held in his hands, revealing his features. The features of a black leopard. ¡°What...¡± Katya asked. ¡°A Beastman,¡± I said quickly as the other group prepared for battle. ¡°Humans and Dwarves have Orcs. Elves have Beastman.¡± Katya didn''t have a chance to respond. Which was good, because I was reeling. Beastmen. I didn''t know a lot about them. What I did know was that they were the sworn enemies of Elves. They were beings who were somehow filled with an energy that changed their bodies structure to match those of vicious predators. They claimed their abilities came from the spirits. And they had a reputation for being strong, fast, and extremely tough. And they were as hated as I was. I didn''t have time to think about the implications. The beastman rushed forward, simply tossing aside his helmet. In an instant, he was a blur. He rushed towards Katya so quickly I couldn''t see him. I leaped forward on instinct. The instant we met in the air, I realized what a mistake I had made. The Beastman was very different from the other people I''d fought. He was bigger than me, something I''d never encountered. And as he slammed into me, I found, for once in my life, I wasn''t strong enough. Never, in my life, had I ever been so completely overpowered so quickly. I''d never found myself lacking the strength to fight, not even against the armored bear I''d fought. Then and there, as I felt myself getting lifted up and slammed into a wall, I felt as weak as a child. ¡°Graagh!¡± I spat out as my already hurt back slammed into a wall. The beastman opened his mouth. The sound that came from his mouth reverberated through the air. His jaws clenched outwards, and his claws easily pierced my gauntlets as I desperately tried to hold him back. We yelled out in exertion as his clawed hands dug into the backs of my hands, causing blood to fill the space between my armor and skin. ¡°Char, hang on!¡± Katya cried out as she desperately fought to reach me. ¡°Kill her!¡± The Beastman roared. ¡°I''ve got the orcling!¡± ¡°Be careful, Januse!¡± The armor plated human woman cried out. She and Katya locked blades for a moment. ¡°Leave him alone!¡± Katya cried out, pushing the woman back. She leaped out of the way of the dwarf, who was firing at her with a crossbow. I felt a bit of worry under my fear. Of all weapons, a crossbow was most dangerous to Katya. It might be able to pierce her armor, and while her carbon sheets would protect her from the arrow cutting through, it would still do damage from sheer kinetic force. Katya did a backflip, and the two human woman leaped towards with just as much atheltic skill. ¡°Focus, orcling,¡± the beastman, Januse apparently, growled. ¡°Or I''ll kill you.¡± I quickly raised a knee, slamming it into his chest. He winced, then smiled. ¡°Good.¡± His jaws slammed into the chainmail around my throat. I screamed, terror filling me as his powerful jaws squeezed down on my neck, and struggled. I kneed him in the ribs again and again, screaming desperately. I was moments from blacking out when he finally let me go. I gasped, air filling my lungs, blood flowing once more. He punched me in the face, sending me into a stumble. I turned my stumble into a quick run, my body struggling for breath. I spun around, trying to get myself ready to fight once more as I gasped for air. When he rushed towards me again, I lifted my fists into a rough imitation of a fighting stance I''d once seen Katya use. Januse came at me ridiculously fast, and I aimed a punch at the center of the blur that was him. I felt my fist bounce off his armor, then he lifted me up in a tackle and took me to the floor. He raised up and started raining blows on me, his claws digging and scratching my armor, then alternating into crushing blows with his fist. On my back I struggled, covering my face with my arms and desperately punching upwards. I thrust to my side with hips, roaring as I bodily tossed him off me. He rolled for a moment and quickly spun to meet me as I rushed towards him. In seconds, we were on each other. It was madness. My muscles burned with the struggle of matching his strength. I felt my wounds burning, and my throat was raw as we roared. I punched him in the shoulder, and got a clawed hand stabbing into my bicep where my armor had been torn up by the bear. His teeth bounced off my chest armor, unable to grip, and my right fist slammed into his stomach. My eyes seemed to burn. We both roared. But in the end, our fight had an inevitable conclusion. I was a blacksmith who studied magic, and not even combat magic. He was a warrior, clearly trained and far more ready for battle than I was. He suddenly got me by the right arm. I tried to pull it back, but I was out of energy. He easily pulled me into his grasp and twisted me around, wrapping an arm around my neck. I struggled, roaring, and the pair of us shuffled across the stone floor, our armor clanging and dust rising. His arm began to squeeze. ¡°Let him go!¡± The both of us stopped to look at the speaker. Katya was panting hard. Her armor was scuffed, and her hair had been released at some point. A bloody scratch rested on her forehead, blood pouring down her face. The dwarf was coughing, clutching at a dagger that had been stabbed into his thigh even as his bloody nose dripped onto his stomach. The human woman in leather was crumbled on the floor. Her right hand rested a few feet from her. The last woman was on her knees facing us, Katya holding her sword to the woman''s throat. The woman had a large stab wound in her shoulder, but her eyes blazed with fury, struggling against the tight hold Katya had on her. ¡°Hmm,¡± Januse hummed. ¡°I see. So you''d threaten her life for your friend?¡± Katya nodded, her eyes hard. ¡°Let him go. And we all walk away.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Out of the corner of my eye, Januse''s jaws opened into a smile. ¡°And why should I believe you? Or you me? Hell, who says I even like those people?¡± The two stared at each other. I tried to shift, but stopped when I felt his arm tighten around my neck. Katya shook her head. ¡°We don''t have any assurances. But I want my friend. And something tells me you want yours,¡± Katya looked behind her at the woman whose hand she''d removed. ¡°All of them are losing blood. The longer we talk, the sooner they''ll die. Choose. Save your friends and possibly leave here without me attacking you? Or lose them, and know that I will kill you if you hurt Char.¡± Januse laughed, his voice a deep growl that reverberated in the air. Just like my voice. ¡°How interesting... You know Char,¡± Januse said softly. ¡°I was intrigued when I first heard of you. Beastmen and Orcs... we have a lot to rise above, hybrids like you and me,¡± he chuckled again as my eyes widened in surprise. ¡°I wonder what sort of fighter you''d have been if you actually had time to grow... Lets find out.¡± He dropped me. Katya released her prisoner. For a moment, the tension rose. The room was still. Katya and Januse strode over to one another. When they met in the middle, they met eyes. Slowly, they strode around each other, never leaving the others field of view. Then they stepped back to join their respective allies. Katya rushed to me and hurriedly lifted me up. I struggled to move, and we began to hobble away. As we did, Januse chuckled. ¡°Come on,¡± I heard him say as we left. ¡°Let''s get you idiots to a healer.¡± Strange how fond he sounded. ------ Katya healed me. We didn''t speak while she did. In truth, she couldn''t do much. I was just too beaten. My body had taken a massive amount of damage, more than even my Orc physiology was meant for. Still, it was enough to let me move, and at least fight if needed. When we met the others, they were fighting giant spiders. Not what I would have expected, but somehow unsurprising. Richard was in the middle of it, his sword already soaked with green blood as he slashed through limbs and bodies, his armor pockmarked where acid had hit him. Hasha was launching balls of ice around the others, not only stopping spiders in their tracks, but also freezing any webs that would entangle the group. He¡¯d follow up with fire, shattering the ice to break away the webs. A good idea, considering spider webs tend to be pretty fire resistant. As Katya led me along an outcropping above the clearing the group was fighting in, I watched Mountain leap towards a brown-gray spider almost as big as he was. The beast hissed in anger as hundreds of kilograms of dog ripped into it. Venom drenched fangs tried to dig into flesh, only bouncing off Mountain¡¯s black fur as though it was armor. Mountain¡¯s teeth, on the other hand, slashed deep into chitin. I shook my head as Mountain fought and growled. ¡°That dog is way too strong.¡± As I spoke, I looked around. Webs hung from the ceiling, clearly having been there for a short time. The rocks that the webs hung from were glowing softly with runes. ¡°Containment spells then. Part of the trap set up for you,¡± I mused as I watched the spells glow. ¡°No natural creature of that size can survive on the diet a cave system would have. They must have been brought for you to fight.¡± ¡°Hn,¡± Katya frowned, clearly displeased. She sighed. ¡°Come on. Let¡¯s go help.¡± She leaped into the air. Her jumpjets, more advanced models than mine, propelled her towards a spider that had been coming down from the ceiling. She grabbed the spider as it screeched, riding it down as its spinnerets released its web. Halfway down, she took out Stormcall and slashed outwards. The spider¡¯s lower and upper abdomen separated in a pouring of pale green liquids. She landed on the ground, rolled, and swung her hands out. An orb of Light energy with her at the epicenter blasted outwards, sending spider flying.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it ¡°And Jeremy thought he could kill her?¡± I asked with a frustrated sigh. I took several steps back, then leaped forward. I didn¡¯t use the jumpjets, simply landing on one of the spiders. The poor creature screeched when a massive half-orc in armor squashed it, dying under my big feet. I roared, partly for effect, partly in pain as my beaten body protested the rough landing. ¡°Katya!¡± Richard called gleefully. Then he winced when a giant spider, this one black with angry red stripes across its back, spat acid at him, propelling them from it¡¯s fangs. He ducked, barely. ¡°Focus Richard,¡± Hasha admonished. He launched a bolt of fire with a hiss of ¡®Furo¡¯, sending the red stripped spider spinning away. Richard, looking chagrined, returned to battle. He ducked a smaller spider leaping at him, slashed through another, and blocked a pair of fangs from one of the larger, red-striped ones. Katya on the other hand was having trouble. She was tossing aside the spiders with ease, but I could tell they were now focused almost entirely on her. In fact, every spider out or the dozens of them that was within twelve meters of her was attacking her exclusively. One unleashed a web that surrounded her body. She let out a burst of Light, burning away the web, but the time she was trapped allowed another two to attack her. She fell under their weight, rolling as fangs bounced off her armor. I joined, using my bare hands to rip into the crowd of spiders. For a moment, the both of us were surrounded in a storm of fangs and hairy legs. I took a moment to be glad I didn¡¯t suffer from arachnophobia. I pushed through the crowd, pulling Katya to her feet and grunting at the feel of another spider crushed by me. Then we were surrounded again. Those were tense moments. I crushed, tore, and bulled my way through the creatures, feeling overwhelmed. Acid tore into my armor, fangs bounced off my steel cotton, and many eyes seemed to gaze at me as a loud chittering filled my ears. Katya¡¯s Stormcall sliced through spiders with ease, but had more trouble against the webs, which her Light could burn away. We fought, and fought, and fought, cutting down spiders as they tore at them. By the end, my armor was barely holding together. Then the horde was gone. The spiders ran away, screaming. Only five of them however, were left, and Mountain leaped forward to joyfully tear those apart. When we were alone, Richard and Hasha walked up, Mountain following once he was done with his meal. ¡°Katya!¡± Richard said, relieved. ¡°I was¡ª¡± ¡°So it¡¯s true,¡± Katya said sadly. ¡°You¡¯re here. Which means you don¡¯t believe the prophecy either. Which means it¡¯s not real.¡± Shocked, Richard lowered his arms from the hug been about to give her. He looked at me. ¡°You told her?¡± ¡°I had to,¡± I said softly. ¡°Maybe we can have the conversation somewhere else?¡± Hasha said calmly. ¡°Outside,¡± Katya looked around, her visor turning orange. ¡°There¡¯s no other monsters here. And I need to talk to the Arch-Bishop.¡± She began walking away, forcing us to follow. ¡°My lady,¡± Richard said, moving after her. ¡°I understand your frustration. But you must understand, the Arch-Bishop has changed. He may not respond with the same calm that you remember, especially if you accuse him of, of, of whatever this damn farce is!¡± ¡°I know,¡± Katya¡¯s face was a mask of determination. ¡°But I need to know. I can¡¯t have the doubt hanging over my head. I have to know Richard¡­ why did they pick me? Are there anymore like me and this, this Jeremy person, if he really is a former Prophesied Child? I need an explanation from the Arch-Bishop. I deserve an explanation. If I¡¯m not the Prophesied Child, then I...I have to learn how to deal with that. To learn how to keep moving forward.¡± There was an odd note on the last three words. Almost like a promise, an oath, and a wish, all rolled into one. Richard¡¯s craggy face became even more wrinkled, before all the tension left him. He turned to look at Mountain. ¡°Can you lead us out?¡± The big dog nodded, face oddly intent. He turned and loped out of the den, leaving us to follow. ------ Running out of the cave was better than entering it. I was constantly amazed by the beauty of the cave system, with its incredibly detailed ecology, the delicate rock formation, glowing sections of stone, and sudden chambers revealing a beautiful sky above us. I made a note to come back sometime, with armor better suited to the task. For now, I followed the others. When we got out of the cave, Katya was leading us. We left the tight cave systems and entered the massive valley at the bottom of the canyon to find things much the same as we left them. Katya was the first to appear, so the crowd waiting before the den immediately began cheering. The various guards bowed before her, and a swell of happiness seemed to follow. Then Mountain came out. Then Richard, Hasha, and me. The cheering paused for an instant, before someone picked it up again. The guards were less willing to go with the flow. They rose from their bows to reach for their weapons, shocked to see us behind her, and clearly remembering us from when we¡¯d ran through them to enter the caves. ¡°Stand down,¡± Katya said, marching towards the tent. ¡°But, my lady!¡± one of the guards said in protest. Katya didn¡¯t reply, simply moving forward. We followed her, a pack of wolves in the wake of the Alpha. The guards came after us. With this procession following her, the two guards in front of the tent seemed unable to decide what to do. Katya removed her helmet as she walked, letting her hair bounce free. It was a bit matted to her forehead, making her look odd, but the look in her eyes made up for that. ¡°Where is the Arch-Bishop?¡± she asked the two guards. They looked at each other. She frowned, far from the sweet girl I was used to. ¡°I asked a question.¡± ¡°Answer her,¡± Richard growled. Mountain growled as well, though his rough burst of sound was far more intimidating than Richard¡¯s. ¡°Well¡­ he left my lady,¡± the right guard said. ¡°Said something about setting up the celebration,¡± the other guard added. ¡°Light¡­¡± Katya closed her eyes, thinking. ¡°He must be at the Chapel.¡± ¡°We can go there,¡± Richard said softly. ¡°Yes, we can,¡± Katya turned and strode over to Mountain, placing her helmet on. Mountain lowered down to let her get on his back, and she swung on. ¡°Get horses, all three of you.¡± ¡°You sure you want us there?¡± I asked her stoically. She smiled, a genuine Katya smile. ¡°Of course¡­ you¡¯re my friends.¡± I nodded, feeling a rush of warmth at her words. ¡°Hasha and I have horses at the back of the crowd.¡± ¡°And I have mine over there,¡± Richard nodded at one of the tents. ¡°We¡¯ll meet at the back of the crowd.¡± ¡°Okay then,¡± Hasha sighed. ¡°I have a bad feeling about this though. Confronting the Arch-Bishop at his home¡­¡± The elvish wizard trailed off, and simply walked into the crowd. I followed, ignoring the stares I was getting. We had a long ride ahead of us, after having been through combat. My muscles were already sore, my armor ripped and dented, and my mind beginning to fatigue from the magic, beatings, and revelations I¡¯d been under. ¡°Keep moving forward,¡± I said softly, pushing through the crowd. ¡°Keep moving forward.¡± With those words echoing in my mind, I moved on to the next battle. ------ The Chapel was in chaos when we got there. We got off our rides in front of the main castle that led into the grounds, Richard, Hasha, and I letting our own mounts rest in the grass in front of the castle. Our horses were exhausted from the breakneck pace we¡¯d taken, trying to match Katya and Mountain¡¯s incredible speed. A group of servants, priests, and knights were pouring from the Chapel Grounds in an organized panic. One of the servants, the Halfling woman I¡¯d seen the day I¡¯d first been brought to the Chapel, was covered in soot, her eyes wide in shock. ¡°Richard! Katya!¡± One of the knights called. The two Chapel leaders stepped forward, the people streaming around them. ¡°What¡¯s going on here?¡± Richard and Katya said in unison. They looked at each other in surprise. Then Richard waved for her to take the lead. ¡°Uh,¡± The knight was clearly thrown, but easily adapted. ¡°My lady, the servant¡¯s quarters have been set on fire, as well two of the other castles. The flames refuse to be put out by water! And the Arch-Bishop isn¡¯t helping! He¡¯s sequestered himself in the library, and he refuses to come out!¡± Katya didn¡¯t hesitate. ¡°Hasha!¡± ¡°The fires are probably fueled by a chemical mixture, but dirt and a lack of oxygen will do nicely at putting them out,¡± Hasha said quickly. ¡°You heard him,¡± Katya shone briefly with the Light. In her glow, people stopped panicking, and simply stared at her. ¡°Everyone! Retreat calmly, and help those who can¡¯t move! Contingent Knights, begin aiding in the efforts to escape! Regiment Knights, we¡¯re moving onto the grounds. You, you, and you,¡± she pointed at two female knights and a male. ¡°Head to the servant barracks and organize a brigade to begin shoveling dirt onto the fires. If we have any magic users still here, get them to bar oxygen from the flames. Come on!¡± We marched forward. As we moved in, I sped up to walk alongside Katya. ¡°I don¡¯t understand, did the Arch-Bishop start these fires?¡± She nodded, her face almost crumbling before she resolved herself. ¡°It is part of the prophecy. ¡®And the prophesied child rose from the ashes of the old.¡¯ But if he¡¯s forcing them to come true, then¡ª¡± ¡°What¡¯s next?¡± Richard said grimly. ¡°The Arch-Bishop has never been like this. Something very wrong is happening.¡± I noticed Hasha looked thoughtful. As our group of armored knights marched out of the tunnel, I went to join him. ¡°What is it?¡± He bit his lip. ¡°Something I noticed¡­I have a hypothesis. One I think I can prove. But¡­we¡¯ll see.¡± On the other side of the tunnel, we saw the lake. With the sun slowly lowering in the horizon, and the four roaring fires slowly eating building, all reflected by the lakes waters, the once calm lake had a terrifying beauty to it. Katya went into action, yelling at the knights to form four groups and go aid in the fire marshalling efforts. She never stopped her steady march towards the library. I couldn¡¯t help but be a bit shocked. For as long as I¡¯d known her, she¡¯d never seemed like a commander. A good fighter, a sweet girl. But not a soldier. Not until now. She snapped commands with the expectation they would be obeyed, and soldiers twice her age moved. Soon we were alone, just the five of us. ¡°Well done my lady,¡± Richard said proudly. Katya blushed. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I just wanted everyone to be safe.¡± ¡°Exactly what a commander, a good commander, wishes for when they take the lead,¡± Richard shook his head. ¡°Don¡¯t be sorry. Be a leader.¡± ¡°¡­I don¡¯t know if I can,¡± she admitted as we walked up the steps to the library. ¡°I mean, if I¡¯m not the real prophesied child, if there is no ¡®prophesied child¡¯, then I didn¡¯t have the right to command them at all,¡± she frowned. ¡°I basically lied.¡± Richard kicked at the doors to the library. When they refused to open, he nodded at Mountain and me. As we moved forward, he sighed. ¡°If it was a lie, it was a lie to protect them. You had to take command of the situation.¡± Mountain and I pushed with all our strength. The doors, thick wooden things, held for a brief moment. Then they shattered under our power. As they fell, I heard Katya mumble to herself. ¡°Yes¡­ I suppose I did.¡± Then we were in the library. I kicked down another door barring our way, grimacing as my body struggled. I was getting tired. More than that, I felt odd. Something about all this was making me nervous, and I couldn¡¯t tell what. Besides the situation itself. When we reach the main library floor, we found the Arch-Bishop. He was standing in the middle of the tables and shelves a floor below us, at the bottom of the stairs we were standing at. Books were laid all over the place in haphazard piles. He would grab one of the shelf with incredible speed, his stooped and ancient form moving from one text to the next with a feverish energy. The odd light in his eyes was stronger than before, a green shade to it. There was an oddly ritualistic form to the process. Focused, deliberate. We formed up into a line, with Katya in the center, Richard on her right with Mountain next to him, and me on her left with Hasha beside me. Staring down at him, we began to approach. I nervously ran through the weapons I had. No more swords. My armor was half broken by now. My right gauntlet was reloaded with more ball bearings, but the left was shattered. Other than that, I had my strength. And yet, I felt strong. When I felt Hasha bump into my left arm, I realized why. I had back-up. No better weapon in the world. ¡°Arch-Bishop!¡± I was as surprised as the others when I yelled. They looked over at me, then back at him. He ignored us. ¡°Arch-Bishop?¡± Katya said hesitantly. ¡°My dear child,¡± he flipped through another book. ¡°I have failed you.¡± He sounded calm. That was disturbing, considering that he had yet to slow down the pace with which he flipped through his books. ¡°Arch-Bishop, I have to ask you¡ª¡± ¡°I see you brought the orc,¡± he interrupted her. ¡°And the dog. I believe I told you to kill them both Richard.¡± Katya bit her bottom lip. Richard frowned. ¡°My lord, I simply could not condone killing two innocent beings for no reason.¡± ¡°Hmph,¡± the Arch-Bishop snapped his latest book closed. ¡°Only animals. Like slaughtering pigs, in the end.¡± Both Katya and Richard looked shocked. ¡°Arch-Bishop¡­¡± Katya stepped forward, only to stop at the hand on her shoulder. ¡°One moment,¡± Hasha walked around Katya, watching the Arch-Bishop like a man staring down a dragon. ¡°I know what is going on.¡± ¡°Hasha?¡± I asked curiously. ¡°Char. Look at this from the perspective of an outsider. What do you know of the Arch-Bishop? Based not on popular knowledge, but by your own observation.¡± Confused, but always willing to listen, I thought about that. The Arch-Bishop seemed¡­ manic. Energetic. Quick to anger. He¡¯d been quick to accuse me of ¡®corrupting¡¯ Katya. His eyes seemed to always glow, and his magic was¡­ his magic was that of entropy. Manic, temperamental, paranoid, with magic that seemed to devour everything around it. My eyes widened. Hasha smiled sadly. ¡°Yes Char. I think I understand what happened. Why things have become as bad as they are,¡± he took a deep breath. ¡°The plague. It all goes back to the plague. When people were feeling their organs die within them, when you could tell an infected by the smell of rotting meat that hung about them. Those times were dark, hard.¡± ¡°I remember,¡± Richard said softly. ¡°I¡¯m sure you do,¡± Hasha replied. ¡°But I also remember the research. The Chapel of Valor was at the forefront of the disaster, fighting against the disease in every way. But it began to resist all magical healing. And soon, a small group of magic users broke away to find their own solution.¡± ¡°Traitors,¡± the Arch-Bishop whispered. ¡°Innovators,¡± Hasha responded. ¡°In a time when madness reigned, they experimented, researched, and dug in to do the work. They discovered the secret of inoculating people to disease. They saved hundreds of thousands.¡± Hasha paused. ¡°But there was more. The Chapel had been fighting for months against the disease. All their best hunted for every advantage they could. And now, for my hypothesis,¡± he tapped his head. ¡°What if, in their desperation, the leaders decided maybe the fault was with them? With their own intelligence? What if they tried to enhance themselves?¡± ¡°Potions?¡± Richard asked. ¡°Could that work?¡± Katya added. ¡°At first, yes,¡± I answered in place of Hasha. ¡°But overuse of those drugs is dangerous.¡± ¡°Addictive as well,¡± Hasha shook his head at the Arch-Bishop who had gotten very still. ¡°You wanted to save people. You saw your people dying, and you looked for whatever you could to change that. But then, after all your hard work, a group of random magic-users come up with the solution, becoming renowned heroes in the bargain.¡± The Arch-Bishop closed another book, using more force than necessary. ¡°You must have wished to prevent that again. What if you could control the next disaster? What if you could make sure the next time something like that, happened, not only would you be smart enough to handle it, but have a hero of your own to face the trouble? Someone weak enough to control, but strong enough to handle the issue?¡± Katya gasped. ¡°Not a good plan. No one can plan for every eventuality.¡± Hasha stepped forward and grabbed the Arch-Bishop¡¯s right wrist, spinning him around. ¡°But a man who¡¯s taken enough brain-enhancing potions will see himself as godlike in his planning.¡± Bright eyes shone out at us. They swirled with a storm of colors, reds, blues, and greens flowing together into a thousand other shades. ¡°Let go of me!¡± the Arch-Bishop screamed. ¡°You need help!¡± Hasha yelled back. ¡°The potions you¡¯ve taken don¡¯t just enhance the brain, they cause damage over time! The paranoia, the desperation to see this prophecy come forth, they¡¯re all because of your madness! Your addiction is killing you, is making you a monster!¡± Screaming, the Arch-Bishop raised his left hand, and made a complicated motion. It glowed green with entropy magic, and he reached for Hasha¡¯s throat. Hasha stepped back. ¡°Arthusa!¡± The Arch-Bishop¡¯s hand smacked into a shield of ice. And devoured it. ¡°One more effect of such potions,¡± Hasha said softly as he watched the ice floating between himself and the Arch-Bishop disappear, ¡°you¡¯re magic becomes tainted. It can appear in dozens of ways, but the most common is entropy. A body on the verge of death hunts for life. And entropy is that which devours all life.¡± ¡°Arch-Bishop?¡± Katya stepped forward. ¡°Just, Just one more¡­¡± the Arch-Bishop fell to his knees. ¡°One more¡­ and I can rest.¡± ¡°One more?¡± Katya asked. Tears were pouring down her cheeks. Mountain was circling us, whining. He chuckled. ¡°The prophecy, child,¡± the Arch-Bishop smiled up at her. ¡°Corrupted or not¡­ you are still my Prophesied Child. And I will see you come into your own!¡± An explosion, with the Arch-Bishop sent everyone but Mountain and me flying. Because of that, I saw what happened next. Several of the books he¡¯d been reading began to glow. Slowly, the swirling colors, identical to the mess his eyes had become, flowed from the books, and into the Arch-Bishop. I ran forward, trying to stop whatever was happening, only to run into an invisible wall. Stymied, I punched it, clawed at it, trying to tear through the sudden barrier. Mountain joined me, barking as he tried to shatter it with me. We both roared, the Arch-Bishop screamed. ¡°And so the Prophesied Child will destroy the beast! And save us all!¡± Blood poured from his lips as more and more magic tore into him, leaving lines of text burned into his body. ¡°All she needs is a beast!¡± He laughed. ¡°For you Katya! For you my child, my prophesied! A creature worthy of the legacy!¡± ¡°Damn it,¡± I had time to growl. Another explosion followed, contained within the barrier. For a moment, all I saw was a shadow. Then it rose up. A being of stone and metal, towering above me. Lines of golden text ran across the surface of its body at a pace to fast to see. It had the shaped of a mortal male, if that male was heavily mutated. It¡¯s body was rough, and bent over in a crouch It opened its eyes. All six of them, glowing green in a head as round as a ball, lined up in pairs of two. The eyes blinked open, then shut. When they opened again, the green eyes had the same swirl of colors that I had seen in the Arch-Bishop. Its left arm ended in a massive drill. As it stared at us, I swallowed. Fur began to form across it in patches, and a pair of horns slowly sprouted from its forehead. The massive beast roared. Its massive drill spun into action. And then it was rushing towards us, shrieking in electric tones. Chapter 11 Demons are one of the most varied and insane species on the planet. There are many species of course. Humans, elves, dwarves, spirits, and halflings tend to dominate the world, but there are far more powerful, and massive beasts. Dragons are the most famous. Demons are the most infamous. Similar to spirits, demons can take many forms, moving from nearly insubstantial whispers in the wind, to beasts of flesh like any mortal. They tend to take on forms from out of the imagination of mortals, and each vary greatly in temperament, skill, age, and morality. As I spun out of the way of a drill the size of a boulder, I decided I had a firm grasp on this demons morality. It swung at me again, trying to kill me. I stepped back, shocked by its incredible speed, especially for such a huge being. Not as fast as Katya, but fast enough. Damn, this demon must be leagues above the one Jennifer had killed in my room. Of course, it might be something else. A simple earthen construct for example, considering its makeup of metal and stone. But my instincts screamed demon, and that is what I decided fit it best. My instincts also said run, but I forced myself to ignore that. ¡°What the Light is that!?¡± Richard had gotten up. ¡°Demon!¡± I yelled back, ducking when that screaming drill came at me again, feeling stone bounce off my head as the drill dug into the stone wall behind me. ¡°It might be a simple earthen constru¡ª¡± Hasha began to say. ¡°Less speculation, more killing!¡± Richard roared. Mountain leaped on top of the demon, snarling like a wolf as he scratched at hardened stone and steel. I punched the beast as fast as I could in the chest, hammering into it while Mountain distracted it. The demon released a sound like lightning crackling across skin (A sound I was sadly very familiar with now) and grabbed Mountain with its clawed right hand. With as much effort as man uses to toss a small bag, he swung Mountain around, smacking me with the big dog and sending us both flying. I grunted when the huge bundle of muscle and fur hit me, and released a groan as we hit a bookshelf, shattering it under our bulk. ¡°No, I need to understand what it is! Furo!¡± Hasha released a ball of fire, hitting the creature to no avail. ¡°The Arch-Bishop summoned it for a reason!¡± Katya appeared in front of the huge being, slashing at it with Stormcall. Even with tears pouring down her cheeks, she made a magnificent figure, leaping and dodging the beast as the jumpjets on her back let her almost float around it. ¡°The prophecy!¡± I yelled out, rising up from the books and shattered wood around me. I coughed up dust and blood, then yelled out again. ¡°What does the prophecy say!?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not real!¡± Katya paid for her distracted yell by getting smacked aside by the drill bit. I almost cried out, only to sigh in relief when I saw her roll back to her feet. Her armor was a bit scratched up, but thankfully the armor hadn¡¯t been hit by the point of the drill. ¡°Even if it isn¡¯t,¡± I rushed forward and punched the creature in the head, trying to force it away from Richard, who was slashing at it as well, ¡°the Arch-Bishop was trying to follow it! First the den, then the fires, now the monster!¡± ¡°And so the Prophesied Child will destroy the beast,¡± Richard¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°We need weapons of Light! If he used the prophecy to make his plan, then weapons of Light are in the next line!¡± Katya and I shared a startled look. Then we both grinned, savage smiles. She threw Stormcall to Richard, and snapped her hands outwards. Then, slowly, a bright white glow came from the top of her hands, resolving into symbols. The kenaz symbol, representing fire, beacons, light, and life. Two blades of light magic, each six inches long, came from the top of her gauntlets. ¡°Weapons of magic,¡± I spat a bit of blood to the side. ¡°Those should do it.¡± The demon looked at Katya, its six eyes a swirl of colors. Its face was otherwise featureless. And yet, I felt like it was smiling. Maybe, somewhere inside that beast, the Arch-Bishop was still there? Pleased that everything was going to plan? I felt sick at the thought. ¡°Damn it. Even this is just us following the prophecy,¡± I grumbled. ¡°Prophecies are bullshit.¡± Even as I spoke, Katya was launching forward. The demon stabbed forward with that spinning drill, screaming in that horrendous wail of lightning against skin. I leaped up, my jumpjets lifting me several meters above it, then dived towards it with my fists leading the way. As I dived, my jumpjets activated, sending me down with tremendous force. Slamming into it with such force destroyed the last defensive runes on my armor, but also sent it to a knee and gave Katya the opening she needed. She leaped forward to slash her Light blades through the beasts ¡®throat¡¯. Unlike our earlier blows, which had bounced off its hard skin, her blades sliced through. The creature roared, its eyes blazing, and it reached towards Katya. Still on top of it, I kicked downwards, just barely forcing it from taking hold of her, then leaped away. Its claws reached out and sliced through the armor on my chest before my jumpjets pulled me away, slicing four ragged and bloody lines into my chest as I screamed in pain before I made it away. Mountain rushed like a bull, tackling the beast. It screeched aloud as Mountain pushed it through four bookshelves, before Katya hopped onto Mountain¡¯s back. Her face set in determination, she sliced at the beasts shoulders, then jumped out of the way of its drill. Mountain pulled away as well with a bloody jaw and cracked teeth from his impact with the creature, leaving the beast swinging at empty air. Then if began to glow. I dropped down next to Hasha. ¡°That can¡¯t be good.¡± ¡°No, it isn¡¯t,¡± he responded. ¡°This isn¡¯t a demon I recognize.¡± ¡°You recognize demons?¡± Richard asked. ¡°Sometimes,¡± Hasha frowned, and lifted his hand. ¡°Thormer!¡± A tight line of lightning burst from his hand and slammed into the demon. It didn¡¯t do a thing. Instead, the beast rose up, aimed its drill towards Hasha, and sped for us! ¡°MOVE!¡± I grabbed Hasha and leaped up, using my jumpjets to get higher. The beast rushed through bookshelves, tables, and the floor itself, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. ¡°Twenty meters in mere seconds!¡± Hasha yelled as I dragged him through the air. Blood dripped from his leg, where the beast¡¯s incredible drill had slashed into it. My face was hurting, probably from some wound of my own. Luckily I could still see with both eyes, but I felt like it was a near thing. The beast turned towards Richard and rushed forth again, forcing the old knight to dodge. He slashed at the beasts ¡®ankles¡¯ as he moved, but got nothing but a slightly dulled sword and a slashed shoulder for his troubles. The beast¡¯s drill slammed into a wall, digging deep into it. Cracks spread through the stone, and the beast ripped the drill back out with ease. Katya struck, slicing the creatures back. This time however, the Light blades didn¡¯t cause nearly as much damage. The beast spun, grabbing Katya around her waist, and threw her. She flew like an arrow, craching through one of the last of the surviving bookshelves. ¡°We need to kill it in one shot!¡± Richard roared, rushing to Katya¡¯s side. She rose, shaking her head. I¡¯d heard a sickly crack when she landed, and worried for both her and Richard, whose shoulder was heavily bleeding. ¡°I know, but my daggers are too small- EEP!¡± in a mirror of when I saved Hasha, she grabbed Richard around the waist and leaped up, her jumpjets launching the pair to where Hasha and I were standing. We stood together, Hasha releasing blasts of magic in a storm of powers while the demon rose up to face us. Mountain joined that group, growling at the demon as we stared it down. The bulky creature released another screech. I roared back on instinct, trying to push through my own fear. That¡¯s when I bumped something. A book, just against my ankle. ¡°¡­We need Light weapons,¡± I said softly. ¡°And this is a library.¡± I spun around and ran. ¡°Char!?¡± Katya called. ¡°Katya, those blades can change shape!¡± I called back to her. ¡°Hasha, take the lead!¡± ¡°Hasha!?¡± Richard yelled, offended. ¡°He¡¯s a former adventurer!¡± I hopped a short table that had been shattered in the chaos. ¡°I¡¯ll be right back!¡± I didn¡¯t stop to see if they¡¯d listened. I simply ran for the doors before me. The ones that had Richard said led to the restricted section. The restricted section of the Chapel of Valor. The premier experts of Light magic. I¡¯d made Katya¡¯s gauntlets based on my own brief examinations of the magic. Gauntlets that could focus magic into a condensed blade of energy, allowing one to slice through almost anything. Those were what I¡¯d come up with in a week. What had the Chapel come up with in decades? The two doors were thick wood wrapped in steel, with chains wrapping them. I lifted my right gauntlet and aimed, firing the weapon. Black powder exploded, sending a small bundle of metal ball bearings forwards. The small pieces of metal shattered the chains, but left the wood. Sprinting harder, feeling blood pour from my mouth and the wounds on my chest, I aimed at the center of the door, roaring. The doors shattered at against me. My armor protected me from most of the damage, but I still felt some splinters and pieces of metal slice into me. I briefly wondered about all the horror I was putting my body through before disregarding the idea. Worry about infection later. For now, I had work to do. I looked around the room. It wasn¡¯t big. But it was pretty. The ceiling had bright glowing lights in the shape of constellations in the night sky. The bookshelves were made of marble rather than wood like the ones outside, and the floors and walls had a polish to them. More important was there were reagents and tools set up on some of the shelves. ¡°Heaven?¡± I asked wryly. Then I moved forward and grabbed a vial, widening my eyes when I realized what it said. Dragon¡¯s Blood. ¡°No¡­ this is an armory.¡± With that, I rushed inside, looking for the book I needed. Luckily it had the same sort of organizational scheme the rest of the library had. I quickly found a book on runes called A Treatise on the Sigils of Destruction and flipped it open. I placed it on a table and worked quickly, hearing everyone yelling outside as more destructive forces were used. ¡°Light runes, Light runes, Light runes,¡± I despaired at the pages I had to skip. There were insights into the realm of runecrafting I¡¯d never imagined, new ideas on their creation and use that mirrored my own research. Still I focused. ¡°Light runes!¡± I grabbed the pages that were relevant and, forcing myself to do it, ripped them out. It made me want to cry, but rushed for the reagents on the shelves and grabbed the ones I needed. Feathers, silicone, tree pulp, ceramic dust, and my own blood. This would be messy. Just then, a crash from the door came. When I looked, the demon had turned to eye me. It spun around and rushed forward, screeching. I grabbed my reagents and the pages I¡¯d ripped and ran towards it. Just before I would have been impaled, I spun behind a wall, letting the beast fly past, then rushed out. ¡°One second!¡± I yelled at the others. They¡¯d obtained a few more cuts and bruises, and looked exhausted. ¡°Where did you bloody go, orcling!?¡± Richard roared, a fresh black eye on his face. I ignored him to place a bowl on the floor. With no time for correct measurements, I simply placed what I could think of in the bowl and began mixing them with my bare hands. I let blood pour from my wounds into the mix, feeling dizzy from the loss of it. Behind me, I heard Katya land. ¡°Char, what¡¯s going on?¡± ¡°We need Light weapons, ones that can do real damage,¡± I looked over at where the beast was rising up. ¡°So I grabbed these,¡± I nodded at the pages I¡¯d dropped on the floor. ¡°And I¡¯m mixing the reagent for the runes I need.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you need hours to make runes safetly?¡± Katya asked. ¡°None of this is safe!¡± I heard a roar, and quickly grabbed my bowl, with now had a brown paste within it, before leaping up, Katya following. Mountain rushed past where we¡¯d stood, huge body bleeding from cuts and bruises. He rolled on the ground, wearily growling as he did. ¡°Is that thing bigger!?¡± Richard yelled. ¡°No, it¡¯s getting faster though!¡± Hasha yelled back. The demon swung at Richard with his drill, sending the knight flying. The knight, with none of the toughness of myself, Mountain, or even Katya in her armor, went flying. His chestplate shattered under the blow. ¡°Richard!¡± Katya called. The knight rose to a knee, surprising the hell out of me. He cursed in dwarven, and spat up blood the way I¡¯d been doing through the fight. ¡°I miss fighting things that could die,¡± He grumbled. The demon rushed at him, screeching as its drill led the way. ¡°Arthusa!¡± A three foot wall of ice appeared between then. The drill slammed into the wall, stopping against the white wall. ¡°Stop needing to be saved!¡± Hasha yelled wearily at Richard. ¡°Bite me elf!¡± Richard hopped over the tall wall with the agility of a younger man, stabbing his sword into one of the creature¡¯s eyes. It howled, pulling back to grab at the sword embedded within its face, letting Richard roll away. ¡°Light damn it!¡± I looked back at my paste, seeing it had become the warm orange color I needed. Or at least, as close as I¡¯d get without a kiln. ¡°Katya, they need you. You¡¯re the only one who can hurt it, really hurt it.¡± ¡°What about you?¡± I looked up at her. The blonde girl still had tearstreaks going down her cheeks. Her eyes were red. Her armor was scratched up, covered in dust, and the scarf Richard had given her had fallen away. She looked like a warrior. Like a hero. A hero in my armor, preparing to fight a great beast. For a thousand reasons, I found myself smiling. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine,¡± I grabbed a batch of the paste and began tracing it on my right gauntlet. ¡°I¡¯m right behind you.¡± Still looking worried, she leaped down to join the fray, leaving me where I was. I focused as best as I could on what I was doing, ignoring the shouts below. The rune I was tracing was supposed to be the purest expression of light. Called lumerona by the creator, a human woman who must have been a true genius in the art of runemaking, it was similar to kenaz in design, but far more complex, clearly meant to represent light at a level the other rune wasn¡¯t. In many ways, kenaz was better, due to being far more flexible in terms of use, but for projecting magic into the form of Light, lumerona was a true marvel of engineering. I didn¡¯t have time to make it pretty however. I simply traced the paste on every part of my armor that I could. As I did, I could feel the rune of connection Hasha had placed pulse on the back of my head, marking the fusion of the runes to my armor and connecting them into a homogeneous piece. It took a short amount of time, and I wish I had longer. Time, as always, was my enemy. The demon was getting faster. And as I placed the last rune, it began to glow brighter again. It lifted its clawed right hand and held it there. Energy the same color as its eyes collected, then shifted. It turned from formless energy, to crackling electricity. ¡°Thormer!¡± Hasha stopped in shock when the beast spoke the name of his personal spell. That saved his life. The beast unleashed a blast of lightning larger than any Hasha had released. ¡°Proserto!¡± Hasha leaped out of the way as he called the spell. The lightning brushed the edge of his air barrier, and blew up, sending him flying. With the experience of a skilled adventurer, Hasha managed to get back to his feet, but I could see he was shaken. ¡°We can¡¯t let this thing escape!¡± Hasha yelled. ¡°If it can mimic magic, and keep getting faster¡ª¡± ¡°We know the stakes damn it!¡± Richard threw a rock at the beast, grabbing Stormcall as he and Katya rushed forward. ¡°I¡¯m done!¡± I yelled out at the same time. ¡°Is it safe!?¡± Katya yelled back. She stabbed at the beast as she ran. ¡°Arthusa!¡± Her light blades instead slammed into a half-dome of ice that protected the beast. She pulled away from it, but the beast spun around and shattered the ice with a clawed fist, sending shards of ice bouncing off her armor as its powerful magic fought to protect her.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Richard struck then, slashing out with Stormcall. With incredible skill and speed, he gritted his teeth and sent the beast back a step under a hailstorm of blows. Seeing the beast ready to attack again, I activated the runes. Power flooded my veins. Light, that energy I¡¯d felt when Katya and the nurse from a lifetime ago healed me, shone out. I could see the stuff shine out from under my skin, a golden glow unmuted by my skin, my armor, and my steel cotton. It was beautiful. And it hurt. I roared, feeling more blood pour from my mouth. The blood shone brightly with the Light, and I knew I had to look like I was burning alive in my armor. And in a way, I was. There was nothing I could do about that. So I ignored it. Over the past few days, I¡¯d felt all sorts of pain. If I let it stop me now, then it was all for nothing. My throat hurt from sheer volume of my voice as I roared, and roared. And as I did, I felt battle frenzy take over once more. The state where rage turned cold, like steel leaving the forge stronger than ever. I leaped up. My jumpjets propelled me forward. The runes of Light began to shine on my armor, burning so fiercely I could smell my skin cooking beneath them. The arc of my leap brought me towards the beast. Mountain, seeing me coming down, grappled with the creature, pulling back with it swung its drill at him. While it was distracted, I reared a fist back. When I punched it in the face, I felt my arm break. Light poured through me, healing the shattered bone even as it shattered, but it still hurt like hell. The demon must have felt it worse, because the striking of my fist took off a massive chunk of it¡¯s body. Its screech filled the air, and it staggered back. ¡°Char,¡± Hasha whispered as I landed, glowing fiercer than even Katya, ¡°what have you done?¡± ¡°Something that really hurts,¡± I grunted back. ¡°Oh Char¡­¡± Katya said sadly. ¡°No talk time, attack now!¡± Richard called, rushing forward as the beast fell back. We rushed forward, Hasha staying behind. ¡°You want spells to steal!?¡± Hasha yelled out. His eye began to glow a bright purple. ¡°Thormer!¡± The lightning bolt that went flying over my shoulder to hit the demon was smaller than his last. And yet, it carried far more force, hitting the demon in the spot in its chin where I¡¯d punched off a piece. It screeched. Blindly, it swung out its drill. ¡°Cut it off!¡± Hasha yelled out. Seeing his plan, I grabbed the demon just past that drill, digging Light infused hands into its stone and metal arm. I pulled, hard, forcing it to its knees and extending its arm. Katya moved in next to me, raising her blades high. The lights of the demons eyes widened. ¡°Arthus¡ª¡± Mountain wrapped his half-broken teeth around its right hand and pulled. Richard stabbed the orb of magic it was preparing, shattering the ice it had created with Stormcall¡¯s powerful lightning. The creature screeched. And Katya cut off that drill. everything tall young woman with beautiful black hair more ¡°Hey,¡± I closed the journal and put it aside as Katya entered. Mountain followed her, the massive dog once again fitting through a door too big for him. She sat down, and gave me a hesitant smile. ¡°How do you feel?¡± ¡°Good,¡± she said softly. ¡°Well¡­okay. Not good, but okay.¡± ¡°Ah,¡± Mountain went to the other side of the bed and nudged my arm. When I lifted it up, he placed his head against me. I scratched his ears, getting a pleased growl out of him. ¡°It¡¯s¡­ the whole thing has been hard to take in. For me that is. I can¡¯t imagine how you¡¯ve been.¡± Katya¡¯s blue eyes brightened slightly. ¡°Well, I think I¡¯ll be all right. I¡¯m glad you¡¯re okay.¡± ¡°Me too,¡± she giggled at that. ¡°How is everyone? With the fires that went on?¡± The brightness in her eyes faded. ¡°Um, thirty-nine people died. Smoke inhalation and severe burns. Others were able to get help, but the rest¡­¡± She looked down at my bed. ¡°Some of them were kids. Servant¡¯s children. And other were parents, so there are orphans like me and you now.¡± I frowned, feeling a deep sadness at the news. ¡°How is the Chapel dealing with this? I mean, they¡¯re leader caused it. And we basically killed him. Or a demon that somehow replaced him.¡± Katya laughed, a rough, harsh sound. ¡°They¡¯re dealing with it the way I tell them too. With the Arch-Bishop gone, I¡¯m the leader of the Chapel.¡± ¡°Oh¡­congratualations?¡± She shook her head. ¡°It doesn¡¯t feel good. I¡¯m the leader because the last one died. And because I didn¡¯t tell them the prophecy was a lie.¡± I stared at her. ¡°They still think it¡¯s true?¡± She bit her lip. I didn¡¯t say anything, just watched her sit there. After a moment, she spoke. ¡°When everything ended, everyone had questions. And Richard and I didn¡¯t know how to tell them truth. Everyone was so scared. When they saw the damage to the Library, and the demons corpse, and they couldn¡¯t find the Arch-Bishop I¡­ I had to tell them something!¡± She stopped, scared of my reply. When I opened my mouth to reply, she spoke again. ¡°So, I told them that Arch-Bishop died fighting the demon,¡± When I blinked in shock, she spoke faster. ¡°I couldn¡¯t tell them their leader turned into some kind of monster! That he killed people just to make me his pet prophesied child! So I told them he was a hero, and that you all helped me kill the demon that killed him. The demon that started those fires.¡± ¡°And the legend of the prophesied child was furthered,¡± I closed my eyes. ¡°I had to,¡± she scooted closer. ¡°They were all so scared. They would have panicked. Now everyone has hope. They all think this is just a painful part of their lives that will be over. Maybe, as the new leader, I can help them more? If they just think of me as the child of prophecy for a bit longer¡ª¡± ¡°And when the truth comes out?¡± I asked. ¡°What if someone like Jeremy reveals the truth? What if someone like the Arch-Bishop, a Chapel official, tries to make their false prophecy come true? If I remember correctly, you have one or two more big demons to kill. Including an army.¡± ¡°Then we¡¯ll kill them!¡± Katya clenched her fists. ¡°As long as the Light is on our side, we can win.¡± ¡°Are you sure?¡± I said. ¡°There is no prophecy. We can die. All of us. Even you. What if by telling this lie now, you¡¯re only inviting future trouble we won¡¯t be able to half-ass our way through?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know!¡± Katya rose to her feet and kicked her chair behind her. A burst of Light magic shattered the poor thing to pieces. She panted, hard. We stared at each other. Mountain whined. ¡°I¡­I couldn¡¯t let them think the Chapel had betrayed them,¡± Katya¡¯s voice cracked. ¡°The way it betrayed me. I needed to lie. To keep them¡­¡± she trailed off. ¡°Ignorant,¡± I shook my head. ¡°I don¡¯t approve. I just don¡¯t. Keeping them in the dark, making them think everything will be okay because of a prophecy you and I both know isn¡¯t real¡ª¡± ¡°Maybe it is real?¡± Katya said softly. ¡°I mean, we cleared the den of monsters. And there were ashes. And I did kill a demon, with you.¡± Her smile was hesitant. ¡°I mean, maybe you¡¯re the prophesied child. You did that stuff too.¡± There wasn¡¯t a bit of hesitation in me. I sighed. ¡°No. I think we both know that¡¯s not true.¡± ¡°¡­Yeah. Yeah,¡± she moved to sit, only to remember her chair was destroyed. I moved my legs, letting her sit on the bed. ¡°I just wish it was¡­Life was easier when a prophecy told me how my story will end.¡± I patted her on the shoulder awkwardly. ¡°That¡¯s how everyone feels about their lives Katya. Normal people are blank pages, not finished novels. It¡¯s up to us to decide what¡¯s written. It¡¯s scary. The words, drawings, and ideas won¡¯t be perfect. But we learn, we continue, and we become better at it.¡± ¡°¡­I can¡¯t tell them the truth,¡± Katya shook her head, looking down at the floor. ¡°Richard agrees. It¡¯s easier like this. I¡¯ll lead the Chapel of Valor. I¡¯ll pretend the prophecy is real. And I¡¯ll keep everyone safe and happy,¡± she laughed. ¡°Light, that was the plan anyways. It¡¯s just not as certain now¡­A blank page.¡± I scowled. ¡°I¡­I just can¡¯t support that plan. Telling everyone will hurt them. But I think, in the long run, honesty will be better.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t do it,¡± Katya shook her head again, then looked at me. ¡°It makes them hopeful. And we need that hope, now more than ever.¡± What could I say to that? ¡°It¡¯s up to you,¡± I leaned back and scratched Mountain between his eyes. ¡°I don¡¯t agree. But I¡¯ll keep this secret. And I¡¯ll help, if you¡¯re willing.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Katya seemed delighted. ¡°Of course,¡± I closed my eyes. ¡°You¡¯re my friend. Even when you make dumb decisions, I¡¯ll have your back. I¡¯ll just be there to tell you I told you so,¡± I didn¡¯t have to open my eyes to know she was pouting, and kept from smiling. ¡°I don¡¯t agree. But I won¡¯t start a civil war over a simple difference of opinion.¡± ¡°Maybe we can tell them truth later, when things are better?¡± Katya asked. ¡°Maybe,¡± I grunted in surprise when my friend moved to lay down next to me, but only moved to make room. ¡°Maybe¡­I¡¯m glad you¡¯re alive.¡± ¡°Me too.¡± We didn¡¯t speak after that. And we didn¡¯t need too. We simply rested as Mountain napped on my leg. ------ A few days later, I was completely healed. Art brought me a change of clothes, and I began changing into them while the room was empty. As I put my pants on, I felt a piece of something crinkling inside one of the pockets. After putting them on I reached inside and pulled it out. A fragment of parchment. No, paper, folded twice. Curious as to what half-forgotten note I¡¯d put away, I unfolded it. Dear Char, This is Jeremy My blood ran cold. I sat down, reading the letter carefully. Dear Char, This is Jeremy. I got word of your accomplishments a few days ago. Well done! Damn, my former employers were pissed, but that¡¯s what they get for playing things like dumbasses like the last minute. Crazy about the Arch-Bishop though. The story is that he sacrificed himself to save the day, but I really doubt it. He never seemed the type, at least not after a while. Got to say though, it¡¯s an interesting new world we live in. Magic, both physical and spiritual, seems to be changing a lot of things. The Prophesied Child is on the rise. And business is booming for unsavoury types like me. Lots of sins in the world that need addressing after all, and sinners like me willing to take care of it. To be frank, I¡¯m not making conversation. I¡¯m telling you something. The world is changing. The plague wasn¡¯t the start either. The printing press is. Knowledge is spreading. I know, from the bits and pieces I got from your shop, what can happen when a man gets a hold of a few books while they¡¯re smart enough to use them. Hell, I plan to steal a few ideas of yours to keep my boys safe (which Katya hadn¡¯t killed so damn many though). I¡¯ve heard word of revolutions preparing to gear up, or armies in the North and South showing new movements. I¡¯ve had more requests in the last month, than I¡¯ve had in years. The Eastern Continent is in a tizzy of some new warlord. And Excher and Dedicat have seen rashes of criminal activity by the sorts of guys Katya was raised to kill. And speaking of her, there¡¯s the fact some people, including my empoyers, aren¡¯t too happy with the new popularity of the Chapel of Valor. What I¡¯m saying is this. Be ready. Because that half-assed armor I saw you wearing around the caves won¡¯t do the job. I¡¯m not willing to see you die Char. Not because I want to kill you myself. But because my last employers were upset you weren¡¯t as dumb as they hoped. Because you refused to die in a failed escape. Because fuck those guys, and their cheapskating asses. So live. Get strong, and smart, and powerful. Make a damn stamp in this new world that¡¯s coming. And I¡¯ll see you when I see you. With no hard feelings on my part, J I slowly lowered the letter. I didn¡¯t read it again, though I knew I¡¯d have to, to get all the little nuances and shaded references he¡¯d mentioned. But for now, I began to fold it up. ¡°A new world,¡± I rose to my feet and finished dressing. What would be my place in this new world then? All those threats he¡¯d mentioned, they¡¯d end up coming after Katya. And not only would they be coming after her, but also, less importantly, me as well. What would I do about that? What could do about that? And should I do anything? If I wanted to, I could stand aside and simply equip everyone else. I¡¯d already had ideas for that, in my time lying down. New armor for Richard, combat robes for Hasha, armor for Mountain. Enhancements to Katya¡¯s armor as well as weapons and tools for the group as a whole. But was that feasible? I¡¯d had an unlimited budget when making Katya¡¯s armor. Could I do the same thing, do better in fact, and do it for everyone, without that budget? Or would Katya somehow help? What about me? Would I fight again? I lifted up my satchel, and swung it on, thinking. Fighting had been painful. Scary. And fun. Even at its worst, it had been fun. I didn¡¯t relish the idea. But I¡¯d been an asset in the fight against the demon, and I didn¡¯t want to end up with a friend dying when I could help. I held the letter in a hand. Then I put it away, and marched out the door. ------ Hours later, I stood at a forge. I took out a hot piece of metal, lifted my hammer, and swung. I didn¡¯t know what the future held. All I could do was plan as best I could. Prepare. I swung the hammer, watching the metal bend down around the horn of my anvil. The new world was coming. Fine. But if it was going to threaten me and mine, I¡¯d be ready. Everything I¡¯d learned, everything I could learn, all my strength and ability, would go into this preparation. New armor, no, new armors, with better weapons, with more advanced set-ups of runes. Tools that could aid in any encounter. And bigger plans than that. The hot metal cooled in the corner as I began mixing my chosen reagents into a paste. I¡¯d be careful. Cautious. I couldn¡¯t just begin building dangerous things and not expect people to not be suspicious. But no one would get the chance to hurt my friends while I was around, and I¡¯d make it damn hard to do when I wasn¡¯t around as well. The reagents mixed, I began carefully drawing my rune out on the piece of metal. Slowly, tracing the lines, I went between the pages I was using for reference and the metal. However, most of the time my own memory was good enough. The molten metal of my magic poured forth, and I patiently worked. In the end, Jeremy could have been lying. Could have been messing with my head, trying not to seem like the bad guy. Hell, he could have been lying from the moment I¡¯d met him. But my instincts told me he was right about one thing. The world was changing, in a big way. A new world, a world build by knowledge spreading through the lands at high speed, was being created. Hasha had taught me a few things about world history. I knew of the sort change Jeremy was insinuating. And we all needed to be ready. My friends, my family, by simple proximity to Katya, would be drawn into the maelstrom. It wasn¡¯t Katya¡¯s fault, not completely, but it was happening. I finished the line on the rune, and slowly looked it over. Nodding firmly, I activated it. Lumerona shone on metal. We¡¯d be ready.